Fate Can't Deny
by No Platonic Love
Summary: Imagine the worlds of Gilmore Girls and A Cinderella Story merged. You don't have to, just read about it. Logan and Rory at Yale, Tristan and Sam at Princeton. What could happen? Whatever does, Fate Can't Deny.... AU
1. A Fairy Tale Begining

_**Prologue: **_

**_Before you start reading this story there are some things you'll need to know. We took the worlds of Gilmore Girls and A Cinderella Story and we put them together. We did change Chad Michael Murray's name from Austin to Tristin so that it would run with the history on Gilmore Girls. And this is a collaboration story so it's written by two different people who are wildthing64 and troryaddict. _**

**_Anyway on with the story…_**_**  
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_**Fate Can't Deny** : A fairy Tale Beginning_

_To be out on her own, was a newly found concept Sam now found herself able to explore. _

_As she perched herself on the windowsill of the dorm she would now call home for the next 4 years. Her eyes wandered across the terrace below. Summers end was near and the anticipation of schools beginning had set itself in stomachs of freshmen everywhere. For Sam this feeling was anything but unordinary. Her prior life in L.A had rid of all but the excitement. Princeton was her new beginning. Even so, a million thoughts, worries, and plans for the future bounced unkindly in her blonde head. _

_Tristin had an inability to fit his fifth over-sized box through the acquired doorframe. His failure became evident when his attempt at sidestepping resulted in a rather loud crash into the wall. _

_By now Sam's thoughts had pulled her into a trance. She willingly accepted the interruption. An escape, from her own thoughts. Leaving her place by the window Sam adjusted herself, so she could easily view her struggling boyfriend. _

_Giving one last push Tristin managed to get the box through the door. When his gaze shifted upwards his eyes landed almost mechanically on her. _

_Sam still couldn't believe how completely naked she felt every time he looked into her eyes. Anything and everything she wanted to keep hidden would be completely revealed to him with one look into his sky-blue eyes. She couldn't stand it, yet she felt lucky she never had to say anything; he knew. Sam shifted her gaze to the ground, her thoughts absorbing her once again._

"_Hey! Hey! Don't give me that! I saw you checking out my package!" Tristin exclaimed, placing the box on the desk to his left before approaching her. _

_Sam found comfort in the fact that despite everything that changed lately, Tristin was the one thing that never had. _

_Rolling her eyes at his lame attempt to be funny, she turned her back to him and came face with a bulletin board._

_Tristin playfully wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his chin on the nape of her neck. But Sam remained silent; this worried him. Silence wasn't anything he wanted between them anymore._

"_I SAID!" nearly yelling into her ear._

"_I heard you the first time Sir FedEx!" Sam turned her head, leaving her hair to whip Tristin in the face. "But I didn't order anything that COMES in a package…"_

_She saw his mouth drop dramatically as soon as she uttered these words. Sam even managed to contain her laughter when he relayed his way in front of her. Standing directly in her path, she saw the blonde, blue-eyed boy that had chosen, over his nicely routed life in L.A, to be with her here at Princeton._

_His look of surprise was priceless. Still she was able to not let even a trace of laughter pass through her lips. Though her mouth was mute, her sparkling brown eyes told him all he needed to know. Tristin could identify every emotion brought through her eyes. And in each, he found even more beauty then the next._

"_Take it back!" Sam burst out, giggling under her breath. She let her eyes search his face intently, as if mentally photographing every aspect of his expression._

"_Back! Take it BACK she says! Sorry Ms. But THIS PACKAGE is not returnable!" He reeled his way closer to her, his facial expression drooping. Sam knew IT was coming, she knew WHAT was coming. Tristin leaned his forehead against hers, pushing his bottom lip forward._

_Their eyes met, Sam's narrowed at his endeavour at pity. She sent a silent warning through her glare._

"_I won't cave this time! I've made my decision!"_

"_Fine!" He whined in return._

"_Y'know…If you keep your face like that for too long, it'll stay that way! Did your mother teach you nothing?" She let out._

"_Actually…" He began. "My mother left us when I was 5."_

_Sam's laughter faded with this comment. She knew what it was like to lose a parent. She'd lost both of hers._

"_Tris…I'm so sorry." Sam rested her head on his chest just beneath his chin, while embracing him lovingly. In slight shock, he'd won her over so easily, he let out a moan of guilt. It had always been to his disadvantage that his heart; so dedicated to her could never lie. _

"_Yeah…" he sighed. "That was a lie…"_

"_Why you little!" Sam attacked him with all she could playfully jumping on him, causing him to spring backwards, onto the bed. Though smaller, Sam never lacked the element of surprise._

"_Shorty, let's not get to rough!" He teased, before regaining control and pinning Sam beneath him. She giggled and squirmed in his grasp, Tristin stared down at her with a goofy smile._

"_Out of breath?" He asked, leaning his face closer to hers._

"_You wish," she whispered back, closing her eyes, her hands still pinned above her head._

"_Hey you heard the one, with the guy walking into the dorm to find two monkeys?" A voice said from the doorway. Tristin let out a sigh, resting his head forward on Sam's shoulder. When Sam looked up, she got an upside down view, of a tall, dark and good looking man who's accent without a doubt was Australian._

"_I'm not in the mood," Sam said while sitting up, and thereby forcing Tristin up too._

"_Yeah well, neither were the monkeys."_

_Tristin let out a small laugh under his breath. The unknown college student edged into the room and set his bags on the bed where Sam and Tristin were last lying. _

"_I'm Sam." She offered her hand out to the stranger._

"_Would it be wishful thinking, to hope you were Tristin Dugrey?" He pleaded, placing a kiss on her hand. Sam flashed her smile once, and he had been caught._

"_Tristin." Tristin raised his hand to the stranger, as he stood just behind Sam._

"_And I'm…exotic!" He said lengthening his accent._

"_So is the Asian Bird Flu," Tristin shot back. The stranger's eyes shot up and switched from Tristin to Sam._

"_Don't tell me he's your boyfriend…" He said motioning a handful of clothes toward Tristin._

"_Well…"she started before intervening with a fake "ahem" and changing the subject._

"_I'm crushed!" cried the stranger._

"_What time is it?" Sam asked, indirectly._

"_Crying time," he continued._

"_Shoot!" Sam now focused her attention on Tristin "I've got that job interview for the paper."_

_Tristin nodded his head in response. He could tell by her body language, that something was bothering her. But he didn't care to drag it up in front of his newly found roommate._

"_Okay," he whispered kissing her forehead._

"_I'll call you," she said, her brown eyes shouting concern as she turned to walk out. _

_As she made her way down the hall, she solemnly regretted the fact she hadn't been able to see Tristin's reaction to the 'B' word. Was he what she'd hoped he'd be? But even more, was he willing to say it?_

_Tristin continued to stare at the empty doorframe in which Sam had passed through moments before. But once again, the Australian accent broke the silence._

"_Finn," he said, although it took a few seconds before Tristin could decode it._

"_Finn?" he repeated. "What are we naming, all of the parts of another one of your 'exotic' fish?"_

"_My name," he said, ignoring Tristin's last remark._

_Tristin nodded and began opening his boxes and unloading the contents._

_It was a beautiful Saturday morning at Yale. Everyone was welcoming the last weekend before the first week of classes. People were up and about, enjoying the last of the summer temperatures. And even with all the noise outside on the campus, Rory and Logan didn't stir. They were nestled together on Rory's couch in her dorm room. The night before they'd gotten into a rather heated debate about The Office, having it end with them watching it four times in a row to finally understand it…Only they hadn't made it all the way through, having had both fallen asleep somewhere around 2:30 in the morning. _

_Paris on the other hand had, fortunately, spent the night at Doyle's, keeping her good mood in tact. She had just left his dorm and was going to stop by and pick up her article before heading down to the paper. As she neared the dorm she fished around in her purse for her key. _

"_Ugh…Where is it?" she muttered. Finally, after threatening to dump all the contents on the floor, she found her key and opened the door. She shuffled through the door keeping her back turned towards the room. Only after she checked the note board did she turn around. There in front on her, lying on the couch were Rory and Logan, him parallel to the back of the couch, his left arm wrapped possessively around Rory's waist. Paris's good mood couldn't help but let a tiny, almost undistinguishable smile form on her lips. Not only was it barely there, but it vanished quickly when she noticed the blanket wrapped around the both of them. Narrowing her eyes she dropped her stuff on the floor by the door and marched over to the couch. "Rory?" she called, reaching out to poke her but at the last minute deciding not to, afraid of what she might have on underneath the blanket…or not have on. "Rory!"_

_Rory groaned in her sleep, she could feel herself waking up, and inside her mind she was heavily cursing whoever was responsible. Upon opening her eyes she was met the sight of a not very happy looking Paris standing above her. "Paris?" she questioned her voice groggy from sleep. _

_Paris leaned back and let her hand rest on her hip, gesturing around with her other one. "What is this? You know I really don't need to see this," she told Rory. _

_The brunette, who had let her eyelids droop down, quickly opened them back up as Paris rose her voice a few octaves higher. For the life of her she couldn't understand why Paris was so mad at her, all she was doing was sleeping on the couch. Then all of a sudden the reason made itself known to her…or better yet himself. Logan had unconsciously tightened his grip on Rory's waist, pulling her closer against him. Now at least partially awake Rory chanced a look behind her and just like she'd thought Logan was still sound asleep. _

_Paris on the other hand was getting frustrated by Rory's lack of response to her and so she walked back over to the door and picked up all her stuff. "And you get mad at me for talking about Doyle and I. At least he's never been naked on our couch before!" she muttered, raising her voice for the last part._

"_Whatever happened to your good mood, Paris?" Rory asked, raking a hand through her dishevelled hair. _

"_Oh I still was in a good mood until I found you and him here, on our couch," she explained motioning at the scene in front of her. "It's really great having to witness the aftermath of your sexcapades," she told Rory sarcastically. _

_Rory rolled her eyes at her roommate and shot her arm out from under the cocoon of warmth to grab the pillow lying on the coffee table. She propped herself up onto her elbows and launched the pillow at Paris, before dropping back down._

"_That was uncalled for!" Paris huffed, as she passed by the couch to get to her room, pausing to drop the pillow on Rory and pick up her hairbrush on the way. _

"_You better not start singing again!" Rory warned, turning to look at Logan who until now hadn't made any signs of human life. She smiled at how peaceful he looked when he slept. She could remember telling her mom that he was gorgeous, but when he slept he looked almost innocent. _

_Instantly Paris started singing the same song from the day before, more off key than last time. She carried on into her room, and put all her stuff on her bed before she walked back into the living to find Rory with the same pillow over her face. _

"_Paris! Please stop!" Rory begged, her voice muffled from the pillow. _

_Unbeknownst to Rory and Paris, Logan had been slowly coming back to consciousness and finally opened his eyes. He was met with the sight of Rory holding a pillow over her face. Had he ever been more responsive at this time in the morning, he probably would have found the scene amusing. Yet as he was about to lift his hand to pull at the pillow he finally registered Paris's voice. At first he tried to ignore it but he found it to be impossible. _

"_Paris for the love of God, please stop singing!" Rory whined, pulling the pillow down and throwing it over the couch in a feeble attempt to hit Paris. _

_Logan, who had just narrowly escaped being hit in the head by Rory's arm as she threw the pillow, uncurled his arm from around her waist and sat up on the couch. He seemed to startle the two girls who both jumped at his sudden movement. He craned his neck to glare at Paris. "Paris," he addressed her rather calmly, "if you don't stop singing I swear I will kill Doyle with that brush," he threatened._

_Paris who had gotten over her shock, merely rolled her eyes before stalking back into her room and closing the door after her. _

_Rory giggled at Logan's threat, turning on her side to watch him. As he lay back down on the couch, Rory studied him. His blonde hair was a mess, his eyes were glazed over with sleep but he was wearing a lazy smirk like per usual. _

"_Morning Ace," Logan mumbled softly, pulling her closer to him. _

_Rory smiled and settled herself against him, his scent was something to be desired. Unable to identify it exactly she figured it must be some pricey cologne he'd bought somewhere off the coast of Europe. Sighing she pressed a silent kiss to his neck. "Morning."_

"_Have you ever woken up with Paris standing over you holding a knife in her hand?" Logan asked, combing a hand through her chocolate tresses. _

_Rory laughed. "Surprisingly no," she told him, kicking her legs out from underneath the blanket. _

_Logan lifted his head. "Hey! Where you going?" he asked, not letting her leave. _

"_Coffee," Rory told him as if it explained everything. _

_Sighing Logan unhooked his arm from around her and watched her slide out and pad across to the small coffee maker sitting on a table of to the side of the room. She quickly opened the lid, but found it empty. Scrunching her eyebrows together she opened the cupboard underneath. _

"_Paris!" Rory yelled, jeering Logan from the light sleep he'd fallen into._

_Paris' door ripped open and she stood there, arms crossed over her stomach. "What?" she asked dryly. _

"_Did you use the last of the coffee?" Rory asked, surprisingly calm._

_Paris was about to answer when she saw Logan sit up on the couch. He flashed her a smirk before turning to the T.V. "What's Hunztberger still doing here?" Paris asked, but made her way over to the couch, not even waiting for an answer. "You know I'd be a lot more welcoming if you'd go somewhere else…away from our couch."_

"_Huh, I didn't know you were welcoming at all," Logan exclaimed, making Paris huff. _

_Rory came to stand next to Paris. "Hey, might I remind you that all this furniture is courtesy of MY grandmother," she explained. _

"_Whatever," Paris muttered stalking back into her room. "I'm going to the paper," she told Rory when she emerged again, article in hand. "I'll be back later!"_

"_I'm not holding my breath," Rory told her before walking into her room. "Logan?" she called, from behind the closed door. _

_The blonde socialite walked leisurely over to the room, leaning against the doorframe. "You called, Ace?" he questioned when she opened the door. _

"_You might want to get changed," she told him, gesturing at his rumpled clothes that he'd fallen asleep in the night before. "You still have some here…there in my closet."_

"_Come on Ace…I was thinking we could retire this slumber party to your bedroom," he said, moving his eyebrows suggestively. _

"_Logan. Change. Now," Rory ordered. _

"_You getting all dominatrix on me Ace?" he asked, his trademark smirk falling into place. "Not that I'm complaining," he advised, making Rory glare at him before she disappeared into the bathroom. _

"_We're going out!" Rory ordered her voice once more muffled behind the door. _

"…_Where again?" Logan asked thinking he may have missed it the first time. _

"_I don't function in the morning without coffee!" she replied, before the sound of the tap running sent Logan into her room to obey orders._

_When Rory opened the bathroom door she found Logan waiting patiently on the couch. And to her surprise his clothes were changed. "Good boy!" she called, a little too cheery for such a morning. _

_Logan grumbled in return. "I'm not a dog you know. And if you were implying that in anyway, your dead Ace." Rory said nothing until they were both out the door. This gave Logan the illusion that he'd won._

"_Boyfriends make nice pets," she told him before walking in the direction of the caf. _

_Surprised she'd said anything Logan held his ground outside her dorm door. Rory failed to notice. "Maybe I should rethink this whole boyfriend-girlfriend thing," he joked. _

_Rory flashed him a smile, looking over her shoulder. Both knew he wouldn't dream of it. Logan jogged his way to catch up with Rory. Wrapping his arm around her shoulder, they walked side by side in blissful silence._

**Authors Note: Like it? Love it? Loathe it? We need feed back! If you find that the writing is unbalanced at times, please excuse us! As it is written my 2 separate authors who's styles may collide! A-U!**


	2. Dangerous Games

_**Okay so, maybe the second chapter will de-confuse most of you readers. But those of you that haven't caught on **_

_**Logan/Rory/Paris Yale **_

_**Sam/Tristin/Finn Princeton**_

_**I realize we're taking a long shot, but it was for the best! The next chapter will be up, when we're able to gather it all together… Mind you it is written. Please review this chapter as well in order to help us figure out the direction of the plot. Trory? Or should the couples stay as they are… **_

_**P.S. Something may change your entire decision, a little later in! Keep reading!**_

_**Samantha 3**_

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_**Fate Can't Deny: **Dangerous Games_

How many special people change,

How many lives are living strange…

_Sam's rush to make her first day at the newspaper on time wasn't aided by anything playing on her car stereo._

"_So not the time" she muttered to herself as she pulled into the parking lot. It was nearly full, she took this to be a bad sign._

_Eyeing the parking lot as she slowly drove through, she managed to find an empty spot a couple meters from where she sat in her beat up Cadillac. Gripping the steering wheel she edged her car half way in, before a frantic Strawberry blonde, who Sam assumed was a college student, do to her lack of beer-belly and full head of hair, compared to all else. She'd stalked her way in abnormally elongated steps in front of Sam's car. _

_Sam hit her brakes with tremendous force, sending her and call her cars contents in a sudden jolt forwards._

_When Sam looked back up, there was no one in sight. Panicking she reached for her door handle. Had she hit the young girl? Before she had the chance to extract from her car, she noticed a face glaring in at her, through her passenger side window. Sam jumped in her seat, she hadn't expected that. Sliding over and unrolling her window, the face remained still, its glare fixated upon her. Sam fidgeted uncomfortably in her seat, the face belonged to such girl she'd nearly ran over moments before._

"_Are you okay? I'm so sor-" Sam pleaded, but was almost immediately interrupted._

"_Am I OKAY!" Her voice sounded shrill._

"_I guess not?" Sam muttered rhetorically._

"_Drive much?" The blondes voice was indefinitely an octave higher. Sam opened her mouth, but mechanically shut it when the blonde started up again. "Obviously not. Because if you DID, you'd know that it isn't a game! There is no objective other then getting from one destination to another in one piece! You don't win points seeing how many people you can run over! Or maybe you're going to tell me it was an accident? That you didn't see me? Well you know what! I don't buy it! Just like I wouldn't buy this sorry excuse for a car in the first place! I guess that's what separates those you THINK they're intelligent, mainly you. From those who are, mainly me." Her breathing was heavy now._

_Sam wondered how something that looked so…innocent, could be so loud, crude and unforgiving. Nonetheless manage to do it ALL in one breathe. Satan thought Sam, the work of Satan._

_She said nothing for a few brief moments, but gave Sam the continuous icy stare. Sam tried to ignore it, and absorb all that had just been thrown at her._

"_Strike one!" she proceeded, and finished with "Next time you see me, WHICH you won't. Don't you let a single word spill from your pretty little lips!" before trudging of towards the building._

_Sam slide back over to the drivers seat and sat quietly, taking a few breathes while pulling her car the rest of the way into the spot._

Wipe that tear away now from your eye  
Slowly walking down the hall  
Faster than a cannonball…

_Closing her eyes, Sam took a minute to recuperate from the events so far._

"_Well there's one friend I haven't made" she whispered while glimpsing in her mirror to fix her hair and straighten out her clothes._

But you and I will never die  
The world's still spinning around we don't know why

_Forty-five minutes she thought. The young Gilmore stood restlessly beside the water-cooler, in the Gazette building break room. As she'd been doing for the past forty-five minutes, smiling politely at anyone, that happened to enter. No one even bothered to notice her._

_She wasn't sure whether or not she had been given the chance to accompany everyone to lunch, and now her stomach was left calling out to her for food. Rory set her briefcase on the table before her, and began to hunt for anything to even substitute for decent food. She pulled out a box of altoids that was hidden under her Book du jour. She carefully removed on from the box, and resumed her place at the water-cooler._

_Sam hadn't been completely aware of the aspects of her new job. Until now. And she did know she'd have to start at the bottom to work her way up to something respectable._

"_This is the copy room" a droning voice told her. "Editors Office, Creative Department" he continued gesturing accordingly. Sam's eyes wandered around as she took in her surroundings._

"_And so ends the tour" he faced her, handing over a small stack of papers to the delicate and confused blonde. "Two-hundred copies of each and please assemble them into stapled packages, they're going out with the paper" he ordered, not even taking the time to look up from his clip-board. He continued scribbling on his paper, and walked in the opposite direction._

_Sam nodded, getting an unkindly waft of this mans stench, Coffee and Stale Doughnuts she thought. She turned herself the opposite way of the smell, and sought out the copy room she'd no doubtedly passed moment's before-hand._

_It didn't take long to find, she was glad to find it completely empty when she opened the door._

"_Always fun to try new things" she reassured herself. "On. On. On. On." She repeated under her breath. "How do I turn you on?" As if she'd get a response._

" _In the real world, you won't get an answer" a voice told her. Surely it wasn't her own. Sam turned her head in the direction the voice had traveled from._

_Rory stepped forward, to introduce herself the moment she caught eye of Sam's confusion. A weary smile crossed her lips._

"_Rory Gilmore" she presented. Rory had grown tired of the break room, and convinced herself it'd be no problem to anyone if she took a longer look around. Needless to say she'd found herself caught in a rush and entered the first door to her right. She now stood face with a mid-height slim brown eyed platinum blonde sporting a not-so-new pant suit. Nevertheless Rory found this girl quite pretty, and it wouldn't be wrong to say she expected her to have the I.Q of someone like Madeline. Sam smiled back politely._

"_Sam Montgomery" she responded, prior to replacing her attention on the copy machine. "Yeah… So I'm hopeless" she sighed both to herself and to Rory._

"_Talking to it didn't help?" Rory joked._

"_Surprisingly, not" _

_Rory joined Sam in front of the Copier. "Two sets of eyes are better then one" she suggested. Sam nodded in agreement._

"_First day?" Sam attempted small talk._

"_No, I'm an intern" Rory told her. "I'm supposed to be shadowing Mr. Huntzberger."_

_The name hit Sam like a ton of bricks. She knew that name, better then her mind would let her remember._

"_No one likes a Shadow." Sam burst out, regretting it instantaneously after it rolled off her tongue. " Well… Actually that's not true." She corrected herself. "It's generally the shadow, that's running away. But there are certain lost boys, that are more like lost girls. They go on thinking crying will make it return. No one wants to come home to a blubbering mess…" she was glad to have been able to stop her mouth before she'd gone to far, and hoped Rory had picked up on her Peter Pan reference. Her hopes weren't to high 90 of the people she talked to had no idea what she was talking about._

"_Clap if you believe!" Rory laughed. Sam looked at her in shock. "Tinkerbell, Hello?" Sam smiled letting out a laugh. Someone had actually caught on._

_On the other side Rory was equally surprised, at Sam's cleverness. All previous presumptions over this blonde disappeared, as they giggled, almost in union._

_Sam was envious of her already… Tall, thin, and blue-eyed. Why was she so surprised, a Huntzberger would be after her?_

_Once they regained control of themselves, they continued studying the machine together trying to figure out its functions._

"_ON!" Sam exclaimed, pressing the largest green button, in the most obvious place on the base of the machine. "Is it me or was that too obvious" Sam questioned._

"_We were just over analyzing the situation" Rory concluded for bother her and Sam's know how. _

"_Buh Bye ego!" Sam waved her hand in the air._

"_Oh look, there goes mine too, they make such a cute couple" Rory squealed._

_Unbeknownst to the two girls, Mr. Huntzberger and his gang of patronesses had entered the copy room, and had been standing silently in the doorway watching the two girls in all their sarcasm._

"_Rory" Mr. Huntzberger said calmly in an even tone. Both girls jumped, startled at the entrance of a new unfamiliar voice, that in no way fit with their harmony of giggles and laughter. Rory turned around, completely while Sam directed her vision downwards the copy machine watching the papers fall out in an orderly manner._

"_Yes sir" she responded, brushing a few stray strands of hair from her face. Mr. Huntzberger peered over Rory shoulder at Sam who was now working busily._

"_Let's go" he commanded, before marching out , his patronesses right at his heels. Rory took one last glimpse over her shoulder. Sam's bangs hung down onto her face, and hide her eyes from Rory's view._

_Rory was disappointed, that Mr. Huntzberger had chosen such a moment to want her around. She'd finally found someone in that hellhole of a building, she could more then related to. _

_Seperately they both hoped it wasn't their last encounter._


	3. Love Just Is

_** First off, thank you to everyone that review the first couple of chapters. We appreciate the feed-back, keep it coming! longivity101, we'd be pleased to answer your question. You see... in the first chapter we hinted at the fact Sam had an interview at a paper, which is why she left the dorm with Finn and Tristin. But not wanting to get into too much detail with it... We assumed she was hired on the spot. In this story mostly everyone is up for 'writing' as a career, and Sam is no different. We hope that clears it up!**_

_** And 'thatsmydog' whether it's TristAN or TristIN it does not matter. Because IN CASE you haven't noticed, Gilmore Girls is a T.V show and we thereby do not read it... we watch it. And by watching it we don't learn to spell character names. And for future reference, I think if we were ever going to right Michel, we'd have it under control. But thanks for the diss and the review?**_

_** Next two chapters are indefinitely written, as for when we plan to post...we'll just see.**_

_** Enjoy!**_

_**We love you all,**_

_**Samantha and Ella  
**_

_**  
Fate Can't Deny: Love Just Is**_

_An irritating ring was responsible for Tristin's early awakening that day. "Can't someone get that?" he called out into his obviously empty dorm. A limited amount of sunlight peered through the blinds of his hospital white dorm room. The glow of the sun bounced of the walls and empty boxes that were casually thrown in random places throughout the room. Raising his head slightly Tristin's mind caught a glimpse of the reality. Weary eyed from sleep he sat himself up. Shaking his head he attempted to rid himself of the sleep that still hung around him. Running his fingers partially through his already distressed hair, the phone rang again continuing in its irritating and predictable chimes. Tristin made his way slowly but surely out of bed. When his bare feet hit the cold hardwood floor a chill sent up through his body. But he continued in the direction of the phone paying no mind to the icy feeling. _

"_Took you long enough," a voice said on the other end. _

"_Mom?" he responded, in a wave of tired confusion. _

"_So I was at the Gazette yesterday…" Sam began._

"_Oh you…it's early," Tristin pleaded into the phone. _

"_I told you I'd call you," Sam argued with a slight hint of amusement. She'd had her coffee already and despite that she'd been programmed as a morning person and not by choice Tristin had not. _

"_Do rich pick on the poor?" he attempted to make a point. It was too early for points. _

"_Well in so many words, yes," she responded. "Which is exactly why early risers pick on…non-early risers?" her combination of words seemed insane even before they left her mouth. "You grew up rich; didn't you guys have a club or something? Masking it with a semi-caring motto like 'help poverty eat the poor'. No wonder your food always tasted better. Cannibals."_

_Tristin's eyes had fallen shut as he stood there phone in hand. Drowsiness had failed to lift itself from his eyes. On the other end Sam shuffled about her single dorm, which in comparison to Tristin's was a result of a lot more decorating and personalisation. Co-ordinating picture frames, lamps, mirrors, candles and exotic scarves that had been passed down to her by her Aunt Rhonda, filled her room that had been painted a pale yellow by a previous resident. She piled her books in a neat stack, holding the phone between her head and her shoulder, freeing both her hands. The sound of rustling papers rose Tristin from his wakeful doze. Unconsciousness had rid his memory of the fact that he was on the phone. _

"_Coffee," Tristin muttered into the receiver._

_Sam smiled to herself. "Fine I'll spare you."_

"_You're oh so kind," Tristin said with bitter sarcasm. _

"_Praise me later. I'll see you in class," Sam added before hanging up and placing her phone on the top of her pile of books. She slid it entirely into her book bag. Slinging her back over her shoulder, Sam left her dorm an hour early and made her way to the dining hall._

_--- _

_6:30_

_Logan groaned, rolling over in his bed, he'd been tossing and turning ever since he'd crawled into bed around 1:30. For some reason Logan hadn't bee able to find the relief of sleep. It frustrated him to no end because he knew exactly why he couldn't sleep, and the reason had brown hair, blue eyes and was currently asleep in her dorm. _

_Logan finally gave up on sleeping when the first rays of sunlight broke through his curtains. He pushed himself out of bed, ignoring the rush of cold air that hit his naked chest; he stood and walked over to his door. Quietly, not wanting to wake Collin who he was rooming with this year, Logan slipped into the small kitchenette. He turned on the coffee maker first thing, a habit he'd picked up from spending the whole summer with a Gilmore Girl. While waiting for the coffee he sat down at the small table and rested his chin in his palm. His thoughts instantly returned to Rory. How could she plague his thoughts like this? He'd done countless dangerous, exciting and life-threatening with the LDB but none of them had him loosing sleep at night…well a couple of them during them in-between but then again those were the ones that he brought Rory with him. Once again the reason why he couldn't sleep was linked back to her. How could she have this much affect on him?_

_Fortunately for Logan, whose head was staring to hurt from the puzzling thoughts, the coffee machine chose that moment to beep, signalling the brew was done. Logan jumped up and grabbed from the machine and set it on the table. He went to the small fridge and was about to pull out the cream but decided against it. He knew that black coffee would help him stay awake later on in the morning, when his all-nighter came back to bite him in the ass. As he sat by himself in the quiet dorm, his thoughts couldn't help but drift. _

_The past summer had been one of his favourites – maybe even his favourite. This surprised Logan because he'd spent most of it in Connecticut…but he knew it was the company he'd kept rather then the places he'd gone that had made it so great. Rory had been by his side most of summer, going with him to numerous functions and parties, aiding him in throwing Honour's birthday party and planning the upcoming wedding, she'd even spent the week with him in his dorm when he'd been sick. But more importantly she'd been by his side at night, nestled under his arm, every curve of her body fitting into his; like they were two pieces to the same puzzle. The whole summer seemed to blend together; her smile, her laugh, her sparkling blue eyes. But the evening before Rory had told him that she wanted to go back to her new dorm so she could get it ready for Monday. And so instead Logan had gone out with Collin and Seth, with plans to go to the pub. Only they hadn't made there, instead spent the night in Seth's dorm playing poker and darts and catching up with each other. They'd only gotten to see each other through the LDB during the summer. The time had passed quickly and Logan had gotten back to his own dorm and poured himself into bed around 1:30. It was an odd feeling not having a warm body next to his during the night, a feeling Logan could truthfully say he didn't like one bit. He'd gotten so used to having Rory there with him, like during the summer, that last night he hadn't been able to sleep because of it. _

_Groaning Logan looked over at the small clock that was lying on the top of one of the many people around the dorm. 6:45 Logan got up fro the table, coffee in hand and went straight to the bathroom to take a shower in hopes that it might help erase his train of thought and his sleepless night. _

_---_

_It was about quarter after seven when Logan left his dorm. He walked out of his hall and into the courtyard, passing a few people who were out enjoying their last free hours. Logan didn't know where he was heading but his feet seemed to guide him straight to Brantford hall, where Rory's dorm was for the second year in a row. He thought of going to her room but then thought that might freak her out. Logan then remembered the key she'd given him earlier that summer and so he headed for the door to her dorm. Easing it into the lock he stealthy opened the dorm and walked over to Rory's room. After closing the door behind him, he looked around noting that she really had gotten a lot of work done. Her dorm was looking almost finished, unlike his that was still packed away in boxes. _

_He walked over to her bed and sat down on the edge. Rory had obviously found sleep the night before, as she was passed out underneath the blankets, clothes still on. A half smile spread itself across his face as he let one hand reach out and push a strand of hair from her face. _

_Rory rustled a little, unconsciously beneath his touch. Logan's smile went from half to whole. He stroked her cheek with the back of his hand, unsure of his own intentions. Was he going to wake her?_

_Her eyes began to flutter open and it was no longer his choice. _

"_Morning beautiful," Logan greeted her. _

"_If you don't have coffee you must have a death wish," she grunted pulling the blankets up her chin. _

"_I'll be right back?" Logan asked, narrowing his hazel eyes on her. _

_Rory shut her eyes tight and rolled over, giving her back to him. "You better be."_

_Logan chuckled, raising himself to his feet and out the door. As he stepped out into the hall his phone rang from his pants pocket. "Hello," he said as he pressed the phone to his ear. _

"_Ugh…"_

_Logan let a smirk settle on his features, and a laugh pass through his lips. "Hello Finn," he replied, already knowing what had happened to Finn…or who. _

"_Logan…Mate?" Finn moaned as if he didn't know he'd called him. _

"_What's her name?" Logan asked knowingly, heading in the direction to the closest coffee cart. _

"_Right, like I would know," he answered his voice weary. "All I can 'member is flashes of red."_

"_So you've finally gone insane?"_

"_Or she had red hair?" Finn added a possibility. _

_Logan laughed, but not so much at Finn, but the fact he'd been just another Finn, only a year ago. "How're you?" Logan asked, suspicious of such a random phone call. But when he thought about it, he was pretty sure Finn had no clue who he was calling. _

"_I love this school," Finn said. "Princeton," he added suspecting whoever it was on the other end didn't know which he was referring to. _

"_There's a lot of school to love," Logan said, reaching the coffee cart. _

"_Women everywhere…it's…it's like feeding time at the zoo," Finn frowned, flustered. _

_Logan covered the receiver with his hand and placed his order to the guy working the coffee cart, 4 large coffees's to go. _

_Finn didn't have patience for the moment of silence on the other end. "I miss our old partying rendezvous," Finn pouted, leaving Logan confused on how to respond. He remembered the way it used to be, but that wasn't the case anymore. Ever since Rory happened, ever since his innate fear of the 'g' word had dissolved he could no longer see himself skipping back to that role. "It's why I called. I'm inviting you to a party here," Finn finished, his voice curiously muffled, causing Logan to wonder where he was exactly and what he was doing. _

"_At Princeton?" Logan asked handing over money for the coffees. _

"_Sure mate," Finn replied his words slurred together. "Bring the reporter with you."_

_Logan laughed. It had been a year since Logan and Rory had committed to each other and he didn't think he'd heard Finn call Rory by her name more then a handful of times. That didn't mean Finn didn't like her, au contraire. Finn had been the first one to offer congratulations when Logan had announced that Rory was his girlfriend. The natural born flirt had taken to her quite nicely, loving having a girl around who could keep up with his quick wit and random topic change. _

"_You mean Rory?" Logan stated, as he walked back to Rory's dorm, coffee in hand. _

"_Who?"_

"_Never mind Finn," Logan relayed not wanting to confuse his Australian friend anymore. He opened Rory's door and looked in cautiously, making sure Paris wasn't anywhere in sight. When the coast was clear he continued on into Rory's room, to find her in the same position as before. _

"_You coming then mate?" Finn asked on the other end. _

_Logan sat the coffees on the table beside Rory's bed and brought one to her, knowing the scent alone would wake her up. True enough she heard a slight sniffing noise before she turned her head towards the coffee, a smile spreading across her face. She sat up in bed and grabbed the cup, guzzling down the beverage not even caring about how hot it was. _

"_I'll ask her, and call you back later," Logan answered, earning a confused look from Rory. _

"_Sure mate…see ya," Finn said into the phone. _

"_Bye Finn," Logan replied and turned his phone off, leaning over to place it on the table. He sat back down, letting his hand run up her bent leg, loving the way it jerked at his ministration. "Morning beautiful," Logan echoed his earlier words, a gorgeous smile on his face._

"_Hey," Rory said her voice scratchy from sleep. She was already three quarters of the way finished her coffee and so she rested it on the top of he knee, looking from Logan to his phone and then back again. "Was that Finn?" she asked thinking that who he's said goodbye to. _

"_Yeah…just invited us to a party," Logan told her, ready for the complaining to start since Rory wasn't the party girl, but she still seemed caught up around the beginning of his sentence. _

"_Where is Finn? I haven't seen him in forever," Rory asked, finishing the coffee and putting the empty cup back in the tray and grabbed another one with a giddy smile on her face. _

"_Well for the last half of the summer he went back to Australia to visit with his family and then he went straight back to Princeton after that," he told her, unconsciously drawing circles on her covered leg with his finger. _

_Rory looked shocked to hear that. "Finn goes to Princeton? Since when?" she asked, coffee poised just below her mouth as her arm froze. _

"_Since forever Ace…" Logan trailed off. "I thought you knew that," he finished. _

_Rory just shrugged her shoulders, sipping leisurely at her second coffee. A sudden frown then marred her features. "Did you say something about a party?" she asked. _

_Logan shook his head. "Guilty as charged…" he told her, bending his head down and looking up at her. _

_Rory melted a little at his boyish charm. "Never plead guilty," she advised/_

_Logan interrupted her "Never go to sleep in your clothes" he told her, pulling down the blanket to expose the same outfit she'd had on yesterday._

"_I was tired…" Rory pouted, reaching for the blanket again, but failed. She gave up, leaning back against the head-board. "What are you doing here anyway?"_

"_What? A guy can't come and see his girlfriend?"_

_Rory looked over at her digit-clock. "Not at 7:30 in the morning" she said, shaking her head. "You know Logan… We do sleep here, and we like it! It keeps us pretty! And stops us from killing our psycho boyfriends!"_

_Logan laughed, "So about this party…" he asked._

_Rory rolled her eyes, knowing he wanted to go. "Where is it?" she asked._

"_Princeton" he told her quietly. _

_Rory smiled innocently "Well, I'm sure you'll have fun"_

_Logan frowned. "Oh c'mon Ace you've got to come!" he whined._

"_Why?"_

_Logan tried to think of a reason that would appease her. "Well Finn's going to invite all these hot girls. Which is a problem, because none of them are you" he said, his smirk growing in size._

_Shaking her head, Rory pushed herself up to him " That was corny" she told him, but a smile was playing on her face._

_Logan leaned forward "But it made you change your mind didn't it?"_

"_Yes" she agreed, grudgingly. Jumping off the bed, and over to her door. She paused while opening it. "You better not be planning on getting me drunk" she said, pointing a finger at him. _

"_Why go away to Princeton? When I could just do that here?" he asked, smartly._

_Rory turned around and head towards the bathroom. "You're a comedian Huntzberger!" she shouted, before closing the door._

_The dining hall was next to empty when Sam got there. A mixture of scents filled the air, each one as good as the next. Muffins, eggs, bacon, coffee._

_When Sam decided on her breakfast of a muffin, yogurt, half a grapefruit, coffee and a glass of orange juice she made her way to the window seats. Everything seemed cleaner, newer, fresher without a crowd of rowdy college students. At this time, the only students there were a few odd early risers like herself, along with partiers, that never actually went to sleep and were struggling about with a glazed over look of the night before._

"_The early bird gets the worm" Sam whispered to herself, looking out the window at the sun, just barely breaking the tops of the trees. The once bright-green leaves, were fading , as fall was just around the corner. They had turned a paler green, but was equally beautiful all the same._

_Redirecting her attention to the tray in front of her, she'd failed to notice that someone had sat across from her at the four person table she was seated at. His head was laid against the surface of the table, which disabled Sam from recognizing whom he was. Or whether or not she knew him._

"_You know...Nobody really cares if you're miserable, so you might as well be happy" Sam told the figure. Slowly his head rose, and Sam came to recognize him as Tristin's new roommate. _

_A smile of relief made its way to Sam's face. She'd heard too many horror stories about campus creeps._

"_Harsh" he muttered, his accent barely present._

_Sam could tell he was just one of those all-nighters, and maybe his accent had retired for the night. She saw minor regret in his eyes, as he slowly lost the battle of slumber, right in front of her eyes. Beside him an open flip-phone sat on the table, suggesting he'd recently used it but was to absent minded to close it. Reaching across the table Sam made it her duty to help the strange roommate, whose name still remained anonymous to her. The sound of his phone closing woke him from his mild doze. _

_Sam held it out to him, helpfully. "Calling someone?"_

"_Was...Yes," he said. " I just can't remember who" his eyebrows furrowed in confusion._

"_Lack of sleep will do that to you"_

"_She...I mean it...IT was so worth it." He respond almost cutting her off. "Sleep? Sleep? What is this 'Sleep' you speak of, and where may I get some?" It seemed to have taken a short while for her words to process through his mind._

"_Lucky that you do know what 'partying' is then, so at least you can say you know something. Unfortunately you forfeited 'Sleep' in return for such part knowledge."_

_He looked up at her, his eyes desperately struggling to focus on her face. His face twisted in formation with his effort. _

"_Oh yeah, that's hot" she laughed, sipping her coffee._

"_And Paris Hilton chimes in!" His head fell forward again, hitting the table with a rather large thump. _

_Sam took in a sharp breath, cringing with the imagination of what pain that may have caused. "How'd that feel?"_

"_Ow..." He gnarled. "Party. Saturday Night. Nine. Be there or be..." he paused mid-sentence. Lifting his head once more, his eyes were already focussed on her. "My mistake, you're already square. I guess it doesn't really make a difference then ?" He shot at her, grinning groggily. "Don't I know you?" he finished._

_Sam rolled her eyes in response. "I met you a couple days ago...in your dorm" she attempted to refresh his memory._

"_Sally!" he burst out. "With the boyfriend!"_

"_Sam" she corrected._

"_Yeah...well..."_

"_Party?" Sam asked transferring, his attention from her tray, that still remained untouched, and away from the topic of 'boyfriends'._

"_You see... When a mommy and a daddy love each other very much.." he joked._

"_I know!" But where? When? Yada yada..." Sam laughed._

"_Finn!" a voice called from across the caf. Finns head jerked around, to locate who was calling. His eyes fixed on a small redhead a few tables over. Sam watched as they gestured flirtatiously, she found the two of them rather amusing. _

_Without so much as another glance at Sam, he stood up. "Saturday night. Shouldn't be hard to find, just follow the kegs and gangs of topless girls. If you were sane you'd be one of those girls too" he added before making his way over to where the redhead sat. "See you there, Sarah" his accent emphasized the fact he'd got her name wrong, again._

"_Sam" she muttered, even though there was no chance he's heard her . As she took a bite of her muffin, any recollection of the party disappeared into Sam's sea of thoughts. She looked down at her watch 8:15 it told her. She took her time returning her dishes and tray. With nothing else to do, she walked over to the English building, in search of her first class of the day._

_The door was open, so Sam took it upon herself to get a good seat before anyone else arrived. Which was unlikely since she was over a half hour early._

_She took a desk in the middle row, centre. Setting her book bag down on the desk her eyes scanned the room around her. All the desks were the same, like clones evenly spaced in a line up. The only things that might separate one from another would be the odd scribble of boredom, left by a prior student._

_Sam moved her bag down to the ground beside the desk, as she took her seat. Removing a notebook, a pencil, and her walkman from her bag. She looked down at her notebook on the desk in front of her, something caught her eye._

"_3 words, 8 letters, 1 meaning" was written off to the left of her desk. Sam's eyebrows raised beneath her blonde bangs. The phrase echoed in her mind, as she took a black hair elastic and gathered her locks in a ponytail on the back of her head, leaving her shorter bangs behind, hanging in her brown eyes. All the while her eyes remained locked on the graffiti, tracing every curve of the letters. Placing her earphones on her head, she continued to open her notebook, flipping through the pages of artwork, poems, thoughts, and reminders she'd written previously. Landing on a blank page, she imitated the words on her desk._

_Sick and tired of this world,_

_There's no more air,_

_Tripping over myself,_

_Going nowhere,_

_Waiting,_

_Suffocating,_

_No direction,_

_I took a dive and..._

_Trust, Knowledge, Security, Change, Life, Answers, she listed on the page. Her eyes shifted from her page to the desk. Love she added, finishing the list._

_I've been wondering why,_

_It's only me,_

_Have you always been inside,_

_Waiting to breathe,_

_S'Alright,_

_Sunlight on my face,_

_I wake up with you,_

_And..._

_I'm alive._

_Sam hadn't noticed the students that began filing in and taking seats around the classroom. Her eyes were focussed downwards and her head was being filled with music and thought. She'd managed to seclude herself in a now room-full of people._

_It was only when the professor entered the class and passed by her, to get to the front of the class that her attention was diverted. She pulled off her earphones, and left them laced around her neck. Straightening her posture, she focussed her attention to the front of the room. Mainly the green chalkboard._

_Mentally Sam compared this green of the chalkboard to those she'd examined earlier this morning Turning her head to the left she saw a row of long windows, parading the entire wall. Only they were covered with putrid coloured drapes._

_The professor had been talking since his sudden entrance, Sam knew she was surely hearing him, just not listening. His tone raised. _

"_You" he cut in. Sam was brought back to reality. She turned her head back towards the front of the classroom. "..In the powder blue shirt" Sam looked around her, unaware of the actual clothing she wore. For a girl, it was surprising that was the last thing ever on her mind. Tristin had told her once, that this was one of the things he respected most about her. "You, Miss" he confirmed pointing at her._

"_..oh...OH!" she responded, straightening her back and fidgeting with the books displayed on her desk. She removed the headset from around her neck,_

"_What was the last book you read?" he asked, leaning against his desk that was "conveniently" stationed directly in front of her._

_Sam's eyes shot up and down her new teacher. "The Night-Coloured Pearl" she told him, along with the rest of the class. "By Tzunami Renivaro" she finished, her voice unsteady._

"_And what was it about?" he questioned her, crossing his arms across his chest. Sam gazed around, at the students surrounding her, uncomfortable with being singled out so suddenly, and so soon in the course. She neglected to notice Tristin sat diagonal ly behind her, his eyes fixated on the back of her head. Just like his heart had been so obviously fixated on her, but not even he knew._

"_Strength, Endurance..." she said. "Mental, and Physically" she tried to ignore the feeling of multiple pairs of eyes judging her every move, and word. "Love" she finished the summary._

"_Ah, Love: The irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired - Mark Twain" he quoted. Turning around he picked up a piece of chalk and began to write. "Our topic today is..." he said aloud, while scribbling on the board. "Love"_

_Facing the class again, his eyes were drawn as if magnetically to Sam. "Thank you Miss..."_

"_Montgomery" _

"_Miss Montgomery" he repeated. "Manny authors use love as a hook, to draw readers in. And many more authors mask their own love tales in side those stories. So my question for all of you is: What is love? When do you show it? Do you show it? How do you show it? Is it worth the risk?" The class was silent. The professor's attempt at starting a class discussion had failed._

"_I'd have to disagree" Sam let out. "Not all authors write about love in the past tense, having experienced it. Some authors prefer to write in their own vows to never fall in love, to never experience it. Characters who make promises to themselves, they will never fall in love. Because they've seen too many others around them go through heartbreak."_

"_But that still involves Love. It's a given. "Tristin cut in. Sam recognized his voice and was in disbelief. She turned her head to confirm and was met with his goofy smile. Tristin looked up at the professor. "I agree with you" he said. "All authors incorporate love, because it's something every reader can relate to."_

"_But..." Sam endeavoured._

"_You are mistaking love, for lack of romance." He told her, as if he knew all._

"_Romance has nothing to do with it. That's a misconceived notion brought forth by two twits in tights... they go by the names of Romeo and Juliet. You don't always need a romantic tale to consider love in a relationship. Believe it or not, but it's people with the control over their hearts and no corny love poem, song or flowers have any effect on it."_

"_Romance is the foundation. Without romance there would be nothing to build love on. Just think of all the movies out there, that centre around the characters 'falling in love', it's the progress that matters most," Tristin exclaimed._

"_You can't find the feeling of love in those platitudinal 'Romantic Comedies'. True love can't be acted out, especially the way they do it on the big screen."_

"_Which is how?" He asked, pointedly. _

_Sam fumed silently for a moment, before finalizing her argument. "They portray love through actions, words. Through the way a man talks, or through the way a girl dress'. I mean no one can relate to the whole 'see-through shirt coloured bra' combination. It doesn't exactly scream 'I'm out to find true love!' it says more 'desperate woman trying too hard.' You've got to make him work for it." She concluded._

_Tristin smirked. He could see the fire burning in her eyes, she was really getting into this, and he loved it. "You just proved my point. Those don't represent love, because they represent romance. You can't fall in love with someone, at first sight, and you just don't have to love one person forever."_

"_It just doesn't make sense not to though. Your heart is mean to be given to the one person you want to spend your life with. To the person you can honestly say you love and trust. If you knew that you'd fall in love again or re-marry, we wouldn't have any reason to have love or marriages."_

"_Yeah, but you don't know, that you may fall in love again. Love, is spontaneous, falling into love with someone right away, because you're "destine" isn't logical."_

"_Love isn't supposed to be logical. It's dangerous, to rationalize your feelings" Sam told him. A frown began to mare her features. The other people in the class, including the teacher were watching the debate with rapt attention. Their heads swivelling back and forth, as if they were watching a tennis match._

"_But you have to rationalize them If you don't then when it comes to that point in a relationship you won't be sure of what you're feeling. If you had just classified that first feeling you had towards someone as love, down the road when you really do fall in love you'd be at least able to identify it."_

_Sam just glared at him, as if daring him to say something else. When he didn't she opened her mouth. "True love is something you feel right away, and it can't just die. It only ever dies because of the people that don't know how to stay in love. It dies of blindness and errors, of betrayal. It dies of illness and weariness, those are all things people control. If they have fear or doubts, it's not love that failed. It's the couple that's failed love." Tristin couldn't help to suddenly feel Sam's comments were in one way, directed at him. "And th number one way a person can fail love is not expressing. Not telling those you love, you do. Or by faking it, to fail love is to fake an emotion, to abuse it to the very extent where it no longer means anything to anyone. Including yourself" Sam finished turning to face the chalkboard, where the professors eyes still switched between the two students._

_Tristin's eyes fell away from Sam. He knew what she was referring to. He did love her, but he didn't know it, he couldn't know it. Tristin couldn't bring himself to utter the words. He was both scared and scarred from the past._

_The professor arose from his shock, and spoke up. His words cutting the tension between the couple like a knife. "Anyone else?"_

_Sam hadn't uttered another word throughout the discussion. She hadn't meant to really say all that. She didn't want Tristin and her to fight out their personal problems in class, even if they were masked with an in-class topic. Sam had always wanted to keep her school work from clashing with other things in her life. She wasn't even paying attention during the teachers lecture, only when he dismissed her did she look up from her desk again. This isn't the way she'd planned on starting the year. Sam wasted no time gathering together her stuff and heading out the door. She could feel Tristin's eyes on her but she didn't want to him. Only because she was sure he understood that their debate had been about them in particular._

_Sam was just past the classroom door, when Tristin stepped in front of her. The two stood in silence at one another, while the rest of the class filed out. Sam opened her mouth to say something. Tristin seemed surprised when nothing came out. She shook her head, looking down to avoid eye contact. She attempted to walk around him, but he shifted in response to her actions, ending up in her path again. She stepped in the other direction, but he repeated._

_Sam stopped and looked at him narrowed eyed. "Dugrey, if you don't move I swear to god I will stab you in your sleep" she warned before pushing past him._

_She had to get away from there. Anywhere on campus...he'd find her. So Sam made her was briskly out to the parking lot, to find her Cadillac._

_We are all the same,_

_Human end..._

_All our ways, and all our pain,_

_So let it be..._

_Let us see._

_Tristin remained in the hallway, he'd barely moved since Sam had brushed him aside. Other then now, he stood his back leaned against the wall. Few people passed through, and those who did, neglected to notice the blue-eyes boy, who masked a great deal of colliding emotions inside. He sighed in a heap of regret. Using his foot as leverage, he pushed himself away from the wall, and began to stroll off in the direction of his dorm._

_There's a love that can fall down like rain..._

_As she set sat in her car, gearing the ignition that wouldn't start. Sam felt a wave of tears sting her eyes. One final try. She fell back onto the seat , closing her eyes tightly preventing the waterworks. _

_Let us begin to wash away the pain,_

_No one really knows what they're searching for... _

_Looking into the rear view mirror she saw her eyes full of tears, creating distress on her other features. _

_We believe,_

_We believe..._

_Letting her hair down she reached under her seat to retrieve her baseball cap. Putting it on she hoped it would stop anyone else from noticing her pink nose or the tears that had begun to stray down from her eyes, marking a path down her cheeks._

_We believe,_

_We believe..._

_Grabbing her keys from the ignition and her book bag from the seat beside her she exited her car. Sam didn't know where she was going. She didn't know the buildings good enough, to know where to go. Where she ended up was the library. She found solace in the thousands of old volumes. Trailing her hand down the spines of the books, while walking down the rows. Sam found herself in one of the library's corners. Stationed there, were to large desks supplied with what seemed to be brand-new high-tech computers._

_She sat herself in front of one. Using an online search engine she found over 10000 hits on used-car sales. If her Cadillac wouldn't work she'd have to find something that would._

_So this world's,_

_Is too much,_

_For you take,_

_Just laying down,_

_And follow me,_

_I'll be everything you need..._

_In every world._

_The door cracked while opening, creating an unholy sound amongst the still room. Tristin clogged his way through the door, careful to close it behind him. He made no effort of staying quiet, despite the face Finn had been spotted passed out on the couch. Lined up parallel to the back wall. Tristin studied his position._

"_How the hell..." he muttered, tilting his head in effort to identify which body part went where. Finn remained, showing no signs of life, as his mind wandered in the land Unbeknownst to man. The only was Tristin was sure he was alive was the hum of his breathing, and random snored, that slightly slowed his breathing every once and a while._

_Giving up , Tristin set his books from this morning on the desk next to his computer. It'd been the only thing actually intact the day he'd moved in. _

_Beams of light highlighted his already blonde hair, and bounced mercilessly off his white t-shirt. If you hadn't known any better, you may have mistaken him from an angel. Looking down at the computer screen. A small notice appeared in the bottom right corner of the screen._

_We believe,_

_We believe,_

_We believe,_

_In this love._

'_Don't answer it' Sam thought to herself. How much harm could it do? Her day had already been sent to the gutter. She was prepared for the worst. Her phone rang, repeatedly... She pushed it off to the side. She continued scrolling down the list, clicking on links, until she came across, a dealer ship parting with a Cadillac not so different from her own._

_She felt something creep up her should as she was reading. Startled she jumped up, knocking her book bag and all its contents onto the ground beside her. Relieved to see when she looked up that it was Tristin, his trademark smile beaming down at her, as she sat on the edge of her chair, one more scare away from falling off. She rolled her eyes at him before getting up, to gather her books off the ground. Tristin met her there, as he gathered her things. He notice one of them had flipped open... there he read it. The riddle Sam had found on her desk, was copied into her notebook. Of course he had no idea of what the meaning had been. He looked over at Sam, her blonde hair shadowing her features as she moved back and forth gathering a few lose papers. She hadn't seen him reading it. He quickly closed it and handed it over to her. In silence she accepted the notebook, stacking everything together, and replacing it into her bag._

"_You've got to admit, that was funny..." he finally said. "Even though I didn't do it purposely."_

_She paused and looked at him, his blue eyes pending. "Hilarious" she muttered, in a miserable tone._

"_About earlier..." he began._

"_Don't worry about it" she interrupted, "You made your point"._

"_No.. I didn't" he pled, "Everything I said... I said for a reason."_

_Love just is ..._

_Whatever it may be_

_Love just is..._

_You and me_

_Nothing less _

_And nothing more_

_I don't know what I love you for_

_Love just is_

"_Then, what are we doing?" she asked. "What are you doing with me?" His features froze, he hadn't expected such a question. Her eyes began to burn, she knew why but she couldn't let herself be so vulnerable. She'd let herself love, and it was all about to go to hell. Her eyes searched his face for an answer... but there was nothing. She sat back down at the computer, and continued like nothing had happened._

_Tristin was desperate, he was losing her. He couldn't lose her, not like this...'Not ever' he thought. He knelt down beside her, his blue eyes concentrated solely on her the side of her face. She'd hidden herself quite well beneath the baseball cap. By now, she couldn't read anything, but she kept her eyes settled on the screen._

"_A while ago, a long while ago... I thought I was in love. I was young, I met her and she just appealed to me. She was smart, beautiful but she kept to herself, she never tried too hard to be accepted so she never was. But that never bugged her... At the time I was King of the School, I would take advantage of any girl in my path. I had a new flavour ever week. She killed off that part of me, without realizing it. But before... I ever had a chance. My dad shipped me off to military school. I got over her... eventually, but my standards changed. She was the kind of girl that went to school to learn, and not to impress anyone around her. She wanted to make something of herself unlike, the rest of the egotistical student body. Who'd most likely live off their inheritance." He paused his eyes searching for her face. But her head remained towards the screen. He lift up his hand, and gently pushed her head in to meet his. He felt a tear hit his finger. She faced him, but avoided I contact. Squeezing her eyes shut, more tears proceeded to fall down her face. _

_When you ask to stay, and then disappear_

_It seems your gone but your really here_

_When every move seems out of place_

_But every kiss is filled with grace_

_He swallowed his guilt and continued, bracing his hands on either side of her face. "I left Military school, and ended up in L.A. Where I ended up falling into the same pattern of an egotistical relationship. I masked myself once again in fear of finding another Rory" he let the name slip. But at the time, Sam paid next to no attention to the similarities, of the Gilmore girl she'd met the day before. "Shelby was my way out.." Sam pulled one of his hands off her face, but Tristin kept the other, cradling her face. She wiped the tears from her cheek "But then I met you," A smile of hope crossed his face, his blue-eyes seemed even bluer to Sam as he said this. "You were...You are everything and more. I thought love was over for me. But you..." the corners of Sam's lip, turned up a little. To him, she looked more beautiful then ever, her tears had lightened the brown of her eyes, as if they were shimmering. "You.." he repeated, mesmerized on how much her simplistic beauty effected him. Sam let out a weak laugh._

"_What about me?" she asked, her eyes trying to read his face._

_He smiled, "8 letters, 3 words, 1 meaning..." Sam's eyebrows furrowed, Tristin smiled at her endearing expression._

_Her mouth opened and closed a few times, before she managed to emit a sentence "How did you..."_

"_Sam" he disrupted " I Love you" he whispered leaning his forehead against hers._

_Some things never get defined_

_In your heart or in your mind_

_It don't make sense what can you do_

_So I won't try making sense of you..._

_She smiled, her eyes sparkling at Tristin once again. He said he loved her. And he did. "I Love you, too" she said back biting her bottom lip._

"_My name's not 'too'" He joked, smirking at her._

_Sam raised her eyebrows in response. "Oh sorry, my mistake. I thought you were my OTHER boyfriend" her smile faded. She'd just used the 'b' word. Her eyes widened like deer in headlights. He'd said he loved her, 'It's okay to call him that now' she tried to convince herself. 'I can...call you..."_

"_Your boyfriend?" he asked, his smile continuously broadening. "I wouldn't have it any other way. Besides it's a hell of a lot better then anything beginning or ending in 'ass'" he added._

_Her embarrassment faded, and she turned her attention back towards the computer screen. "What are you looking for?" Tristin asked, over her shoulder, as he pulled up a chair next to her._

"_A new car. My Not-so-trusty Cadillac, is deceased." she told him, forcing a pout onto her face. Tristin curved his arm around her waste empathetically, as Sam looked at a mid-condition Red Cadillac for sale, just a few town's away. "Hey, if you get the chance. Do you think you could go check this one out for me? Make sure the engine works, check the interior, make sure the stereo works, and the trunks big enough.."_

"_The trunk?" the one thing he didn't understand out of that list of demands._

"_Yeah...you know. For your body" she smiled. "Just in case"_


	4. They Never Saw It Coming

_**Fate Can't Deny:** They Never Saw It Coming_

"_I can't believe you talked me into this…this…"_

"_It's just a party Ace." _

"_Blasphemy!" she burst out. They'd taken a train out of Connecticut to go all the to a college party at Princeton. "So tell me why, we had to go to another college just for a party. I mean I was perfectly happy at my own college," Rory pouted. _

"_We're here to visit Finn," Logan reminded her. This reason no longer seemed worth it, in her mind. Together they strolled up the terrace, Logan's arm draped over her shoulder protectively, as if at any moment a swarm of Princeton college guys would snatch her away. _

"_I hear music," Rory remarked, which seemed strange since the party was in front of them and the music was coming from behind them. _

_Logan pulled his cell phone out of his back pocket, and stopped walking holding it up to Rory. "This music?" he asked rhetorically. "Good job, Ace," he added before putting the phone to his ear. Rory watched him pace back and forth in what little illumination there was. The skies were dark by this point. This only added to Rory's irritation with the longevity of their road trip, seeing as they left when it was still bright out. She'd toned out Logan's conversation and thanked herself for wearing ballet flats instead of heels; her feet had been through enough. _

_Logan walked over to her putting his hand over the receiver. "This may take a while. Go ahead Ace. I'll find you," he whispered to her, leaning in and placing a kiss on her forehead. She nodded in response, turning towards the building of dorms where the party had just begun. _

_---_

_Although Sam hadn't been interested in the party Finn had invited her to she found herself in the middle of it. She locked her door, to prevent her drunk and horny classmates from stumbling in. _

"_Alright I'm coming up," Tristin warned. "We're in the middle of the party; we might as well join in."_

_It'd been a long first week, and both of them were anything but in the mood for a party. But Finn had pretty much taken over Tristin's dorm, he didn't have a choice and he wasn't going alone. _

"_Butttt," Sam whined. _

"_No buts allowed."_

"_Ugh fine," she gave in. _

"_Okay five minutes and I'll be there," he instructed. _

"_Wait," she interrupted. "What exactly are you expected to wear to a 'party'?"_

"_Whatever you wear I'm sure you'll look beautiful," he said hanging up._

"_No help!" she muttered into the phone, before setting it down. _

_Trudging over to her closet she pulled out a pair of pale blue jeans, and matched it with a turquoise tank top and a deep red sweater. Once dressed she placed herself in front of the vanity mirror, and pinned the top half of her hair into a pony tail and applied a thin coat of red-tinted lip gloss to her already rosy lips. _

_There was a knock at the door. Sam smiled; it'd only been 3 minutes of the promised 5. "What?" she called out. _

"_Little pigs, little pigs let me in or I'll blow you house down!" Tristin recited to the other side of the door. _

"_Not by the hair of my chinny-chin-chin!" she yelled back. Tristin perched himself in the door way, and knocked again politely. _

"_Just a minute," she said. "I haven't finished making myself look human."_

_On the other side of the door Tristin laughed quietly to himself. The door then swung open and there she was, standing before him. _

"_Now thanks to your lack of instruction on what to wear to a party, I look like a Beverly hill Billy." She caught a glimpse of his smile; he hadn't done a good job at hiding it. "Oh, you think this is funny!" she placed her hand in his chest applying enough pressure to get him out of the doorway, as she closed the door behind her and locked it._

"_Well…yeah," he said wrapping his arms around her. _

"_You'll pay," she said sarcastically before taking off down the hall. Tristin had to run to catch up with her. Grabbing her hand he laced his fingers in hers as they made their way down to the floor below where the core of the party was. The music grew louder as they went down the stairs. Already the hall was lined with couples passed out, liquor in hand._

_---_

_Rory stood her ground, by the refreshments table in the corner. She didn't trust that any food hadn't been contaminated, so she remained empty handed. She watched half naked girl's dance, a ton of guys chug beer, who in the end started giving her a good look up and down. Her regrets to even coming to this party grew with every second. Her eyes scanned the room every five minutes, in hope of finding Logan. _

_Rory let her eyes wander the room; everything looked almost exactly the way it did when she got there. Her eyes skimmed over the entrance way, and settled when she saw a little blonde walk in. At first she wasn't sure but with examination she recognized Sam Montgomery, the girl from the copy room. She immediately made her way over, pushing through the crowd of dancers. Turning sideways she squeezed past the last couple landing in front of Sam. _

_Sam was surprised to find Rory at the party, even more so that she stood before her. With her in the room Sam found herself sub-conscious. "Hey Gilmore," she said, stepping forward and embracing Rory in a slight hug. "What are you doing here?"_

_Rory had just become aware of the figure beside Sam, his arm curved around the blonde's waist. When she concentrated on his face she came to recognize him too. Her jaw dropped as her gaze remained on Tristin. _

_Tristin hadn't realized it, but he'd been staring mercilessly at the young Gilmore ever since she stepped through the crowd. It was to his disbelief, when the two women he loved, one past, the other present, took to each other so easily, as if they'd met before._

_A moment's wait, Rory had yet to respond to Sam's question. But just before Sam concluded that she possibly hadn't heard her over the music she realized it wasn't that at all. The expression on Rory's face told it all. Looking back at Tristin's face, both were similar. She thought it'd be no use to introduce the two, seeing as they already seemed to know. _

"_Do you two…" she started._

"_Dugrey," Rory said mechanically. _

"_Mary," Tristin responded his smile lengthening his lips. _

_Rory still remained in shock. "I haven't seen you since…You go here?" she began. _

"_Since, I was shipped off to military school…and Princeton, yes."_

"_Wow, I didn't know you wanted to go to Princeton."_

_Sam watched the intensity of their conversation. Absorbed in each other, Sam couldn't help but realize. She was the one he said he'd loved, and she was back. Where could that possibly leave her? Their connection, their past, history was evident. This sent her nerves flying. Tristin had faked love, he'd failed her, she thought to herself. As much as she liked Rory, she found herself wishing they'd never met. She let out a sigh, and turned towards the door, as she quietly made her way through the partiers and out of the terrace. Breaking through the door, she inhaled a deep breath. 'Free,' she thought. She wasn't upset with Tristin or the Gilmore girl. Sam was mainly upset with herself for believing in love. _

"_Welcome to hell on earth!" a drunken Finn, said into her ear, possible too close for comfort. His breath reeked of beer, and he stood topless beside her, less then a foot away. Sam wrinkled her nose to the smell. _

"_Hell!" he repeated, this time calling out to the darkness. A few people turned their heads to witness the Australians drunken escapade. _

"_If you're so interested in hell why don't you go there," Sam snapped at Finn, who was too intoxicated to realize what had happened. Rolling her eyes she began strolling over to the library. Hugging herself to create a small barrier against the chill of the night. _

_Finn attacked her from behind, his arms cast around her shoulders. Sam jumped forward to escape his grasp. He fell forward drunkenly, hitting the grass face-first. He lay there pathetically wincing on the ground. She felt sympathetic, for the drunk._

"_Are you all right?" she asked, kneeling down beside him._

"_Hug!" he pouted._

_She now knew what he was doing, and felt guilty for acting so hostile. Sam began to apologize, as she saw his eyes waver shut._

"_Great" she muttered. She couldn't just leave him there. Could she? She removed her sweater and draped it over his bare back, before continuing her stroll._

_Sam had been gone a good 20 minutes before either Tristin Dugrey, or Rory Gilmore noticed. They'd both been lost in each other, in their little reunion. _

"_I'd better go find her" Tristin suggested, regretting the face he'd have to leave her again._

"_Yeah, I'd better go find my date too"_

_They smiled wearily at one another, walking out onto the terrace. Walking out Tristin caught sight of Sam's red sweater, only it wasn't her that was sporting it. It was Finn. Looking up he saw Sam's slim figure against the backdrop of the library building. He took out his cell phone and called her. Watching her stop, take it out of her back pocket, look down at it, and continue on, replacing it into her pocket. _

_Tristin rolled his eyes in response, looking over at Rory who's eyes were focussed in the other direction. "I…" he started to say, pointing in Sam's direction._

_Rory nodded, and pointed in the other direction "I'm going this way" she told him. "It was really nice seeing you again" she added._

"_Don't be a stranger" he said lastly before taking off in a jog towards the library._

_Catching up to Sam, she was well aware of his presence. The continuous panting, and heard of footsteps prepared her for his arrival._

"_So is that what you do everytime I call?" he asked still out of breathe. His chest heaving in and out, gasping for air. _

_Sam remained silent her eyes staring directly at the path in front of her. "I guess this means, you put it together. The whole me and Rory thing" he sounded worried. "Well, I guess if you hadn't I just gave it away." He sighed as they walked in silence. When they reached the steps Sam stopped and sat down near the top. Tristin followed her example._

"_You love her…" she whispered._

"_I did love her…past tense" he corrected._

"_Did, Do it's all the same" she turned her head towards him, resting her chin on her shoulder. "When you think about it… You two never really had your chance at love."_

"_So far it was a one way thing, Sam. So logically nothing could've or would've ever happened"_

"_I saw the way she looked at you, and you her. I mean how long until you even noticed I was missing? 20, 30 minutes? That's proof in itself."_

"_I don't think jealousy goes with that outfit… Speaking of which. What is Finn-"_

"_Long story" she interrupted. Sam crossed her arms in front of her, hugging her knees to her chest in an attempt to stay warm._

"_Sam"_

"_Hmm?"_

"_I did love her. But now, I am in love with you" he reassured her, moving closer and pulling her body into his. Her head lay on his chest listening to his heartbeat. His chin rested on her head as he found happiness, and comfort in her scent, and in the way she felt in his arms. In the tranquility of darkness they sat, the glow of the street lamp before them, was all the light they needed._

_It was already 11 o'clock before Logan had got rid of the phone conversation and managed to track down Rory. Not to his surprise, he found her sitting on a park bench, book in hand._

_He flopped down in the seat next to her. "Good evening Ace," he said almost apologetically leaning over and placing a kiss on her cheek._

_She looked at him. "You know, I read this book…about this girl and her newlyfound friend, You see, it turns out that one friend is dating the others ex-crush-thing, that she hasn't seen since he was shipped off to military school. And so the whole thing climax's at a BIG party…"_

"_What happens at the party?" Logan asked, slightly amused with the tone in her voice._

"_Well you'd have to have been there to know"_

"_Ace…" he moaned. "C'mon there's still some party left. I'll see what I can condor up." He said nudging her slightly with his elbow._

_Rory smirked. "okay, okay!"_

_He held her hand tightly as they proceeded into the lobby once again. As they entered Rory struggled to fit her novel back into her purse._

"_Have you seen Finn?" Logan asked, disrupting the process. She shook her head 'no'. She'd refrain from using her words, knowing her voice could never dominate the loud music._

_Logan's eyes sparkled as he looked around at the partiers. It was just like old times. All Rory saw was a mess, of intoxicated limbs flailing about. "Let's dance!" he yelled, tugging her arm onto the designated 'dance floor'._

_Rory groaned standing in front of Logan. She'd dismissed the fact that this was the first time she'd ever seen Logan dance. And what you would've thought to be a disaster was just another remake of 'Lord of the Lady's'._

"_Moving is key!" someone shouted, dancing past her._

_Rory remained still, uncomfortable in this environment, Logan could tell. As much as he wanted this 'blast from the past' he wanted her more. And in all fairness, he'd dragged her out to this. "Bathroom" Rory mouthed to him, pointing over her shoulder. Logan had stopped dancing and nodded, giving her a weary smile._

_She bolted through the crowd, unsure of where she was headed. She passed multiple people whom gave her dirty looks; as if they knew she wasn't a Princeton student. Others stumbled right into her, without apologies they would continue down the hall. Rory reached the end of the hall and began rising the steps._

_When the cold was too much for them, Tristin and Sam retired their 'cuddle-session' to Tristin's dorm, which he's cleared of drunken couples. So they might be alone, closing the door behind them._

_Sam walked around the room, picking up random objects, studying them briefly, and putting them back into place. _

_Tristin watched quietly from his place in front of the door. "I'm tired," he finally let out yawning._

_Sam spun in his direction, to face him. "Idea.." she smirked. "Why don't you lay down on the couch" she stood right beside it no, patting the back. "And we can pretend it's your funeral" she laughed._

_Tristin threw his head back in fake laughter. "Funny!" he exclaimed._

"_Oh, wait.." Sam proceeded, looking around the room. "There are too many people."_

_Tristins eyes narrowed playfully as he approached her. Sam's eyes widened, as she stood frozen in place, smiling innocently. Tristin grabbed her waist, sending her body crashing against his own. He looked down at her, and her up at him. Their eyes locked, but neither one said anything. _

_There had been a burning desire ignited in Tristin, as he lost himself in the beauty and laughter of her gleaming brown eyes. He had to have her, it was driving him crazy. Tightening his grip he pulled her up and crushed his lips against hers. Emersed in a deep kiss, Sam felt Tristins tongue line her lips, their tongues pushing against one another. Sam gripped his shoulders, her feet dangling as he held her tightly in his arms. She could only pray he wouldn't put her down, because she was sure her legs wouldn't withstand her own weight at the moment. Her knees felt weak, as their connection grew. As if he's read her mind, Tristin placed his hand on the back of her thigh and laid her down gently on the couch. Breaking their kiss, Tristin proceeded to lay on top of her, careful not to let all of his weight on her. He nuzzled his head in her neck, as he kissed it gently. Sam closed her eyes pushing her head back into the cushions, biting her bottom lip. Her arms lay loosely around Tristin's back. His need for her only grew, and her logic and sensibility became less present with every touch._

_Backing away from her, Tristin sat up, his eyes still fixated on the blonde beneath him. He pulled his shirt off, dropping it carelessly on the ground, and lowering himself down again, placing another kiss on her lips._

_When his fingers began to trace her shoulders, pushing down the strap of her bra; it was then she knew… This wasn't ending. Her mind raced with indecision. It would all come down to trust…_

_The young Gilmore completed her self-led tour of the building by circulating each floor, peering into the occasional open door. She continued to avoid going back down to the party, by retracing her steps down each hall on her way back down._

_Rory knew she was stalling her return to the party, she also knew that she had told Logan she would go, she just hoped he wouldn't think too much about her 30 minute 'bathroom' trip. As she took the stairs down to the floor below her, she heard the pounding beat of the music get louder and she knew she must be getting closer to the party. Sighing she hopped off the last step and hugged her arms to her chest, as she wandered the hall._

"_Hey Tim! Go Long!"_

_Rory jumped, her head snapping up to the loud drunken yell. Ahead of her there were a group of guys, one holding a football and another, whom she assumed was Tim, running backwards towards her. Rory quickly flattened herself against the wall as Tim dove for the football. Rory guessed he was more then just intoxicated because, he'd dove for the ball…after it hit the ground. He landed beside her, face first on the ground. Tim lifted his head off the ground, his eyes slowly tracing up Rory's bare legs that soon disappeared under her dress. Then up to her chest, and finally her face. Rory shifted nervously, her cheeks going a dark red, as he obviously checked her out. _

"_Nice hands," she muttered._

"_Nice legs," he said back, a wicked smile coming over his face._

_Rory's eyes widened and she went to walk away from him. When she looked up, all the other guys had crowded around, blocking the hall. _

"_Well, Hello Princess…" one of them said, his eyes certainly not focussed on her face._

_Panic entered her eyes, as her heart started to pound. Until she swore it was louder then the music. "The party!" Rory felt relief as she thought about the party happening a few floors below them. "I'm gonna go," she said, backing up and then quickly taking off down the staircase. She just hoped that the group was too drunk to follow or stop her._

_Without warning Rory was immersed in the crowd, and she pushed herself through it, her eyes searching frantically for Logan. She couldn't find him at first, but as she walked further into the party she heard his voice over the music and the hum of students chatting mercilessly. She turned around, following the voice._

_It was then she saw him, seated with a group of guys surrounding him. The cards gave him away Logan had always been one for poker. Betting off anything and everything that he'd received from his father of great fortune. Rory had a theory; her theory was that selling off any possessions given to him by his father was a harmless pay-back. For what, Rory never knew, but this was her sole reason for never stopping him in the act. She stalked her way over to where he was sitting, it didn't take him long tonotice her towering over his shoulder._

"_Hey Kidd-o!" he let out. Logan was hardly aware that it wasn't just his eyes that were set on the fragile brunette. Rory frowned and sat down next to him, painfully aware of the fact he's been drinking and had left her now, to fend for herself at the party HE'D taken her to. _

_With this thought her stomach turned, and she solemnly wished Tristin hadn't left her side earlier. Or maybe she was wishing she hadn't left Logan's? Emotion ran through her, leaving her lost and confused. Princeton was the last place she wanted to be. Yet it was the one place she was._

"_Mom?"_

"_Rory! Prodigal Daughter. Fellow Sister. Soulmate! What's up?"_

"_What are you doing?"_

"_I'm planting bulbs."_

"_Bulbs?"_

"_Bulbs."_

"_Bulbs?"_

"_Bulbs."_

"_Hey, are we in a loop?"_

"_A bulby kind of, loop de loop!"_

"_So you've got no concept of time, then?"_

"_Say…what?"_

"_It's twelve."_

"_Oh yeah! I wasn't serious."_

"_Shouldn't you be sleeping?"_

"_I was, but my insane daughter Margaret Kidder Gilmore woke me up."_

"_Well…We all have parties in our past. As it turns out one of mine is present!"_

"_And there'll be more, no doubt, in your future kid!"_

"_This 'Kid' thing seems to be of some plague, that only I, Margaret Kidder Gilmore am immune to.."_

"_Huntzberger?"_

"_Who else? He dragged me all the way to Princeton for a college party."_

"_Oh, NO!"_

"_Oh No, is right. But No, NO that's not all… He went and got himself drunk!"_

"_That weasel" Lorelai whispered sarcastically into the phone. "I guess I'll just have to put on my red, white, and blue leotards. Grab my golden lasso and fly the invisible plane on over to save you!"_

"_That'd be very Wonder woman of you."_

"_I try. So are you going to be okay hun?"_

"_Yes, MOTHER GILMORE. I'll be fine. I just needed to hear a friendly voice…"_

"_All right, DAUGHTER GILMORE. I just wanted to make sure. Why is your voice no longer satisfying?"_

" _I quit talking to myself a while ago…"_

_And I was not informed! Woe is me! You no longer sound like my offspring!"_

" _I ran into Tristin" Rory finally told her._

_Lorelai seemed speechless. "At Princeton?"_

"_Uh Huh"_

"_I never took Pretty-boy as the Princeton type"_

"_Nor did I"_

"_So.. How is he?"_

"_He's… Good, I guess."_

_Lorelai knew about Rory's former crush on Tristin, and it worried her to see the possibility of history repeating itself. "So is he-"_

"_He's seeing someone…Yes"_

"_Are you okay with that?"_

"_It's none of my business"_

"_Yeah, you're right…Okay"_

"_I have to go" Rory intervened, suddenly disappointed with the fact that her own mother had brought up such an open wound. _

"_All right, play safe kid"_

_Rory hung up, making her way over to the park bench once again. It'd been a long night and her body slowly began to sink into the effect of it all. Her eyelids grew heavy as she drifted off to sleep on the open Princeton terrace._

**_So I hope you liked this chapter. It's been a long weekend without anything to do... So writing is the solution. I'm stoked to write the next chapter, we've begun already. Thanks again for reviewing... Keep it up! Feedback keeps us going. Even if you really have no suggestions, review so we know we have readers out there! Much appreciated!_**

**_Love Always,_**

**_Samantha and Ella_**


	5. The Aftermath

_**Fate Can't Deny:** The Aftermath_

_Sam's eyes fluttered open as the early morning sun filtered in through the open window. Her face was slowly becoming heated by its rays. She squinted, not being able to open her eyes all the way. Sam could tell by the dimness across the room where the sun didn't hit, that it was fairly early. Groaning she tried to go back to sleep but knew it was a hopeless battle. Sam had just resigned herself to get up and close the blinds on her window when she felt something tighten around her waist. Sam's eyes popped open, the glare from the sun completely forgotten as she recognized the room she was waking up in. It only confused her because she didn't recognize it as her own but as…_

_Sam's eyes widened, disbelief clouding her face. She slowly lowered her head, peaking through one eye. All she saw was her own bare shoulders disappearing under the blue fabric of a blanket. Closing her eyes again Sam let her hand grasp the cottony fabric and pulled it away from her. Quickly she looked down, opening her eyes and then just as quick letting go of the blanket. _

"_Huh," she said, laying her head back down. "Why am I naked on Tristin's couch?" Sam pondered. _

_Sam furrowed her brows and turned her head to the side, coming face to face with Tristin…literally. _

"_Oh…" Sam paused. "Well then," she said before the reality of what had happened the night before came back to her. "OH!" she said her voice raising and her hands going up to press the blankets tighter against her. _

_Sam quickly pushed herself up, pausing to remove Tristin's arm that was draped over her waist. She stepped onto the floor, taking the blanket with her as she stood. Sam glanced back over at Tristin, glad that he had another blanket covering him up from the waist down. Sam raised her hand to her hair, dishevelling it even more as she started to pace in front of the couch. _

"_Okay…" she breathed out trying to find a way to deal with the situation. Sam turned around spotting her shirt lying on the floor. "Gotta get dressed…" she trailed off, "Gotta get dressed."_

_Sam quickly searched the room for the rest of her clothes before she disappeared into his bathroom. After getting dressed and combing through her hair with her fingers, Sam made her way out of the bathroom, and let the importance of what had happened the night before hit her with a force._

"_Oh my God," she whispered her hand going up to her mouth. "Uh…oh…okay…" she kept mumbling looking around the room and let her eyes rest on the door. Sam started walking to it but froze with her hand on the knob. She turned back and walked over to Tristin. She nervously bent down and leaned in, brushing a butterfly kiss on his forehead, careful not to wake him. Sam knew she couldn't just leave and have Tristin wake up alone, not knowing where she was. And so she searched the room for a pen and paper, trying to think of a reason why she would have to leave. Her brown eyes wondered around the room and found a newspaper lying on the counter. Sam quickly wrote a note to Tristin and then disappeared out the door. _

_Hey Tristin, _

_Sorry about leaving but I had to be at the paper. I'll call you._

_Love, _

_Sam. _

_---_

_Sam had stopped back at her dorm, grabbed her book bag and some money before she set out again. Since she still hadn't gotten her new car, she'd have to walk across the campus to the bus stop. She didn't want this time by herself, where only her thoughts were keep her company. She only had one thing on her mind right now. _

_Get a load of me; get a load of you  
Walking down the street, _

_And I hardly know you  
It's just like we were meant to be_

_She still didn't know how she felt about last night, but she did know that that was definitely something she should have had figured out before Tristin and her… But last night had been an odd night, emotions had been running high and with the look in Tristin's eyes Sam could honestly say that her practical side had flown out the window. She didn't regret it, she knew that also, but she just didn't know if it would affect their relationship. Will it bring them closer? Will it ruin everything?_

_Is, this is just the beginning  
We're already wet, _

_And we're gonna go swimming_

_But Sam couldn't help but let a smile grace her features when she thought about Tristin. She knew he was the guy; there was no doubt about that. When she was around him she couldn't breathe, and when she wasn't around him she wanted to be. She was completely in love with him. _

_Why can't I breathe whenever I think about you  
Why can't I speak whenever I talk about you  
It's inevitable, it's a fact that we're gonna get down to it  
So tell me,  
Why can't I breathe whenever I think about you_

_Her thoughts kept colliding as she crossed the campus on her way to the bus stop. She wasn't sure about the act itself and how the aftermath of it would play out, but at the same time her body yearned to be back on that couch with Tristin. Sam had never thought about being…physical…like that with a guy before, which was reasonable because she didn't know enough about that sort of thing, and Tristin was her first boyfriend. But he made her feel things she'd never thought she would feel. He had made her give herself to him mind, body, heart and soul. She was drowning in him, all wrapped up, and she loved it. _

_I'd love for you to make me wonder  
Where it's going.  
I'd love for you to pull me under  
Something's growing  
For this that we can control  
Baby I am dying_

_Sam was lost in thought as she walked through the courtyard. She wrapped her arms around her waist, passing by a figure huddled on a bench. Sam continued walking for a yard or two when she came to an abrupt stop and turned around. She walked back over to the bench and kneeled down in front of it so she was face to face with Rory Gilmore, half asleep on the Princeton bench. _

_Rory had been mostly awake for a while now, what with the sun pouring down on her. She knew it was early morning, because of the lack of people outside. There was one group of freshman guy's that were up and about. She felt the person kneel down in front of her and answered the question that the guys had been repeatedly asking her. _

"_No I don't believe in love at first sight," she muttered, bringing her arm up to cover her eyes. _

"_Should I walk by again then?" Sam asked, amused with the situation, forgetting for a while about Rory's history with Tristin. _

_Rory's eyes popped open under her arm as she recognized that voice. She lifted her arm and turned to face the highly amused, smiling face, of Sam Montgomery. Her cheeks turned a deep shade of plum as she realized that Sam had found her asleep on a bench. _

"_Comfy?" Sam asked, trying to hold in her laughter and failing. _

_Rory had to laugh at that. "Not at all," she replied as she took Sam's offered hand and sat up on the bench, rubbing the side of her face where she was sure there was an odd pattern imprinted on her skin._

_Sam sat down next to Rory for a minute, she watched the brunette rub at her skin, and let her eyes trail over her entire form. "Do you maybe want to come back to my dorm?" she asked, reaching over and picking out a stray leaf from Rory's messy hair. "Wash up?"_

_Rory laughed a little, smoothing down her hair and then meeting Sam's eyes. "Thanks," she said, pushing her pride down because she knew she must look like a homeless. _

_The two girls walked back to Sam's dorm in silence. Both were caught in thoughts about the night before, a big night for each girl. Rory didn't know how she should deal with what had happened. Did she confront Logan about it right away? Or did she just go on with her day, put the ball in his court and hope he keeps it moving? Sam on the other end had been instantly reminded of the story Tristin had told her about 'Mary'. She knew who Mary was, but she also now knew that Tristin didn't love her anymore. But how was she supposed to deal with it?_

"_Its right here," Sam told her, stopping in front of her door and quickly opened it, letting Rory walk in and then herself. Sam put down her bag and turned to look at Rory. "You can go in the bathroom to wash up," Sam told her, walking over to the bathroom door and opening it. "I don't know if you want to, but you can take a shower."_

_Rory smiled gratefully at the blonde and walked over to the door. "Thanks Sam, this is really nice," she said. _

"_You're welcome," Sam replied, watching as Rory went into the bathroom and closed the door after her. Sam looked around her room, trying to find something to occupy her time. She quickly situated herself in her favourite cushiony chair and started working on a paper she had for a class. _

_It was about a half an hour later when Rory came out of the bathroom, showered and at last presentable. She stood a little awkwardly by the bathroom door, not sure if Sam wanted her to stay or something. "Thanks again, Sam," she said. _

_Sam nodded and smiled simply, before she realized what Rory was waiting for. She motioned at the chair next to her. "Here sit," she said and then got up. "I have coffee if you want some?" she asked. _

"_I would love some," Rory answered sitting down in the chair and looking around Sam's single dorm. That was something Rory sometimes wanted, the peace and quiet of a single dorm room, without Paris around every day. But she decided she would actually miss the intense blonde._

_Sam leaned back against the counter, waiting for the coffee to be done. She wasn't stupid; she could feel the tension in the room. Sam never really had been one for confrontation, even with her past telling her otherwise. Her first instinct was always to wait and see if things could solve themselves. She had done that, and things with her and Tristin had gotten better…much better. But now she knew that she would have to take the first step in working things out with Rory. "So how was the party?" Sam asked, her voice sounding somewhat curious. _

_Rory looked up at her, knowing that this was it. She wasn't sure how she felt, talking about Tristin, especially with his girlfriend, but she did owe it to Sam and so she drew in a deep breath to prepare herself. "Not so great. I ended up watching my boyfriend play poker," she told her, stressing the word boyfriend, hoping it might help. _

"_Sounds like fun," Sam said sarcastically, inwardly rejoicing at hearing that Rory had a boyfriend. _

"_Tons," Rory answered in the same tone, a smile spreading across her face. She couldn't help but think about it in a different way now. The party hadn't been that bad, because she'd gotten this chance to talk to Sam again. She knew that they didn't really know each other or anything but she felt a strange connection to the blonde and she hoped they were on their way to friendship. "So what'd you do last night?"_

_At that moment the coffee maker decided to signal that it was done making the coffee and Sam didn't have to answer Rory. She thanked whoever was up there that liked her so much. Still she couldn't fight off the blush that crept up her neck and fanned out across her cheeks. Sam busied herself with the coffees and then took one over to Rory and sat down opposite her. They both sat quietly, sipping leisurely at their cups, some of the tension leaving the room and making the hush not as awkward. _

"_Listen Sam, I know you probably have a lot of questions," Rory started, knowing the faster she brought the subject up the faster the end of it would come. "About me and Tristin."_

_Sam looked into her blue eyes, seeing many different emotions there. She couldn't quite decide how Rory felt talking about this. Was she confident? Weary? Did she regret her past with Tristin? Did she wish for a future? Or was she simply happy with her life now and wanted to reassure Sam? She hoped it was the latter. "Tristin told me about you…" Sam began, "well actually about 'Mary' but I guess…that's you," she trailed off again. _

"_It's what he called me in high school," Rory told her. "He never actually learned my name," she tried a comedy approach, and was rewarded with a small smile. _

"_He told me you two never…"_

"_We didn't," Rory said confidently. Her mind was suddenly assaulted her with memories of her past with Tristin. She focused on the night on the piano bench, at Madelyn's party. She looked up at Sam; not knowing if she should tell her about that but decided in the end that it would be better if she was totally honest about it…just in case Tristin told her about it later. "We did kiss, once."_

_Sam's head snapped up at that. She wasn't sure how to feel. She wanted to be able to tell herself that it was the past and she wanted to be able to accept it but she couldn't help but feel a slight pang of hurt. She knew it wasn't fair to Tristin or Rory, or even to her but that was the way she felt. She met Rory's blue eyes and suddenly wanted to know more, even if it might hurt. "When?"_

_Rory was surprised at her question but managed to answer it. "At a party." Rory crossed her right leg over her left and rested her mug on her knee. "I had just broken up with my boyfriend the night before, and he had just been dumped." Rory didn't know why she'd told her that. Was she trying to justify it?_

_Sam nodded along, working double-time trying to convince herself that it was more of a rebound kiss then anything else. She looked at Rory; it made it easier to win over her heart. She understood that with Rory it was something like that. Maybe not rebound exactly but she'd been hurting from the breakup. Tristin on the other…she didn't know if she could give him the benefit of the doubt. He'd told her what kind of guy he was in high school and she just didn't know if she could make herself believe that he'd kissed Rory because he was hurt and vulnerable. "You guys didn't try to make anything of it?" _

_Rory shook her head vehemently. "I wasn't sure how he felt about the kiss, I guess I'm still not quite to sure," Rory said briefly meeting Sam's eye before refocusing her attention at the coffee mug. "All I could think about was my boyfriend…we got back together after that, and I just kind of pushed the kiss out of my mind. I told Tristin that I didn't want him to say anything and just forget it. I told him it didn't mean anything and that I wished it never happened in the first place. I don't even know if I meant that. It was confusing you know?" Rory asked, suddenly feeling a lot more at ease talking about this. _

_Sam understood what she meant. She'd spent a lot of time confused when she was in high school, especially after the stunt Shelby pulled at the pep rally. She'd wanted answers and a solution but more then anything she'd really just wanted things to back to normal. She wanted to let them have their world…even if meant giving up on Tristin. It was then that Sam felt that small pang of hurt heal through. She'd given up on Tristin; she'd confronted him in the locker room. She'd done the same thing that Rory had but Tristin had come after her. He'd run out of the game, run out on his dad, and he'd gone straight to her. _

"_Sam?" Rory asked, the other girl had been quiet for some time now and she wasn't sure if it was something she'd said. _

_Sam broke out of her memories and let a real, full sized smile grace her face. She looked at Rory, having the sudden urge to tell her what had happened the night before. She knew she would have to talk to someone about it, or it would eat away at her. She just wasn't sure if talking to Rory was a good idea. "Thanks Rory," Sam said sincerely. _

"_For what?" Rory asked. _

_Sam just smiled more for a second and then brought her coffee to her lips, pausing before taking a sip. "I don't know…for all sorts of things."_

_Rory looked at her before she let out a laugh, glad that Sam wasn't mad at her or anything. The two sat in comfortable silence, before Rory saw a mischievous glint come into Sam's eyes. But before she had the chance to ask about it Sam started talking. _

"_So what were you doing on a bench?" she asked. _

_Rory rolled her eyes good naturedly. "I fell asleep last night, after I got off the phone with my mom," she explained. "Truth I swear. I'm not a hobo!" she laughed, holding up her hands like she was surrendering._

"_How'd you know I was thinking that?" Sam asked, amused. _

"_I must be psychic!" Rory concluded her voice growing in volume. _

_Sam instantly thought: 'There's your opening!' She didn't want to jump right into this subject and so she tried to approach it carefully, every muscle tensed and ready to bolt in case it got ugly. "Hey Rory, do you think I can talk to you about something?" she asked. _

_Rory calmed herself down, noticing the change in Sam's demeanor. "Sure," she told her, trying to think of everything Sam might want to talk about. _

_Sam once again took her time to think of what to say. "It's about Tristin…and me," she finally decided on. _

_Rory's eyes grew a little wide. She hadn't been expecting that. Would she be able to talk about Tristin and Sam with Sam? She saw Sam was watching her apprehensively and Rory closed her eyes, the image of Logan popping into her head. She smiled at that and opened her eyes again. "Sure. Is anything wrong?" _

_Sam inwardly relaxed but left her body tense. "Um…well…" she started. She'd forgotten that if she was going to talk about this with Rory then she would have to actually say the words. It was okay thinking about it in her own mind, because, well there wasn't anyone to hear that. She racked her brain, trying to think of a way she could say it. She then remembered something the kids at school always used to tease her about… "Well, last night…we, uh, played…baseball," she finally got out. _

"_Oh," Rory said. She went over what Sam said, thinking she must have missed something because that certainly couldn't be what the problem was. _

_Sam knew Rory hadn't understood what she really meant and so she set her coffee on the table beside her. "We played… 'baseball'," she repeated this time using her ever so handy air quotes._

_Rory sat quietly, thinking over the statement her eyes fogging with confusion. But then all of a sudden she remembered some random comment her mother had made when they'd –for some reason- been watching baseball on TV. Her blue eyes cleared slowly and she opened her mouth an odd amount of times before she got out one single, one syllable word. "Wow."_

_Sam breathed out in relief when she realized Rory had understood what she meant. She watched with fascination, as the Gilmore girl absorb the information. "Is this okay?" Sam suddenly asked, her voice squeaking slightly as she started to panic. "I'm sorry, I mean, I can't believe I thought I could talk about this with you! What with your history with Tristin…and we really aren't that close…We're just friends and…We are friends, aren't we?" Sam babbled on. _

_Rory had been broken out of her thoughts by Sam's questions. She couldn't stop herself from laughing, before she composed herself. "We are," she answered Sam's last question firmly. "And…" she paused for a second. "I'm okay talking about it."_

_Sam felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders and she looked into Rory's laughing blue eyes gratefully. "Are you sure?" she asked, giving her another chance to back out. _

"_I'm sure," Rory promised, feeling herself slip into serious girl talk mode. "This might be…overstepping," Rory warned her but Sam gestured for her to go on. "Did you…I mean how far?" Rory asked, feeling her cheeks heat up even as she asked the question. _

_Sam copied her action and lowered her head. She knew that she was saying more by saying nothing at all. Her body actions were speaking for themselves, but she quickly gathered all the strength she possessed and looked at Rory. "Homerun," she told her. _

_Rory let out a loud exhale of breath. "Wow," she repeated her earlier words as she digested what Sam had just told her._

"_Yeah wow."_

_Rory was quiet for a minute. She was just watching Sam and she noticed the tenseness of Sam's position, and the confusion in her eyes. She furrowed her brow and then leaned in, making Sam meet her eyes. "Hey, what's wrong?" she asked, sounding more then concerned. _

_Sam rolled her eyes and tried to play it off like it was nothing but Rory's expression didn't waver. "Okay," Sam said, breathing loudly a couple of times before she started up again. "I'm not exactly, umm, sure how I feel about it yet." _

"_You're not?" Rory asked, surprised by the admission and leaned back in the chair. _

_Sam shook her head, her blonde hair spilling down onto her shoulders. She lowered her head for a split second but then leveled her gaze with Rory's, her eyes set with determination. "I should be, though, shouldn't I? I mean it's not just some small thing…it's this giant, possibly life altering thing!" she ranted. "I should have known if I was ready. I should have thought through it and analyzed it! It wasn't supposed to be spontaneous…"_

"_Whoa!" Rory interrupted her, bringing her hands up to stop Sam. "Okay breathe!" she instructed. _

"_Breathe?"_

"_Breathe," Rory repeated, and crouched down slightly, resting her open palm on Sam's leg, the gesture comforting the blonde. "Listen Sam, I know what you're going through. I've been there…well maybe not in the exact same boat as you but one close by."_

"_Really?"_

"_Really. I always planned what it would be like. I would be older, it would be romantic with candles and music and maybe even dinner before. I wanted to be in love, and I wanted it to be with my boyfriend of a very long time."_

_Sam tilted her head to the side, as she immersed herself in Rory's little story. "I'm guessing it didn't happen like you planned?"_

"_No, it didn't. It was like you said, spontaneous," Rory declared, her brain sifting through the details of her first time with Dean, deciding to cut out the parts that mentioned him being married. "We weren't even dating…he was my ex-boyfriend."_

_Sam's shoulders sagged a little at that. She couldn't help but feel guilty all of a sudden. Here she was complaining about how her first time wasn't like she planned, even though it was with her boyfriend, the man she loved and who loved her right back. "I'm sorry," Sam said, not knowing what else to say. _

"_I've accepted it," Rory told her, not going into detail how long it took her to accept it. "What you need to ask yourself Sam, is if you regret it?" Rory told her, expertly changing the subject._

"_I don't, I know that," Sam responded firmly and without hesitation. _

_Rory smiled sweetly at her, her eyes sparkling. "Well then there's your answer," she said. _

_Sam was silent as she thought about that. She'd known all this time that she didn't regret what happened with her and Tristin, but it had taken someone else pointing it out, for her to finally be okay with what happened. She didn't know if it was just having another opinion of if it was admitting it out loud but she was glad she'd talked to Rory about it. "Thanks Rory, really, you don't know how much you helped me," Sam told her, her words coated in gratitude. _

_Rory just smiled, her expression saying everything she needed to say. She let her eyes wonder for a second and they found the clock mounted on the wall. "Umm, were you going anywhere when you found me?" Rory asked, glancing back at Sam. _

"_I was going to the paper…Why?" she asked, moving a little to look at the clock to. It read 8:30._

"_I was just wondering if you had to be there by a certain time…" she trailed off._

"_Oh no, I was just going to grab an extra shift. You know they always need another copy girl!" she joked, her and Rory both standing up at the same time, Sam taking their empty mugs to the counter. _

"_Actually I have to go to the paper today to," Rory said, a proposition lingering behind her words. _

_Sam quickly caught on. "You can come with me if you want. I'm taking the bus though, because my car broke down." Sam turned around to see Rory putting on her coat and copied her actions. "Unless you have a car?"_

"_Nope, I took the train last night," Rory said, an idle thought entering her mind, 'Should she call Logan and tell him that she was okay?'_

_Sam smiled, glad that they were going to get to spend more time together. "Okay great! We're off!" she exclaimed, breaking Rory out of her thoughts and opening her door after grabbing her book bag. _

"_Off to see the Wizard?" Rory asked, slipping back into their wit from the copy room where they first met. _

_Sam laughed following Rory out the room, her voice echoing throughout the halls. "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz!" _

_---_

_A strong feeling of guilt rested in his stomach. A weary recollection of what ad happened on the previous night hung above his head. As he stood in the elevator, slowly rising upwards, he could feel his heart pounding. Never in the entire time he'd known her, had he felt so nervous and regret in facing Rory Gilmore. A chime of arrival. The doors slowly opened revealing the Huntzberger heir to those before him. Of course, no one knew him, no one here had ever met him to be able to identify Logan. And he was thankful for this, he was glad._

_Edging his way through the rush of people, he came face with Rory's desk. He'd learned early on where his father had stationed her. He convinced himself, that his father would somehow lock her up in a closet, letting her go upon his arrival. To be able to stare at her desk, was for his own protective boyfriend know-how._

_Pounding her desk, he plopped himself down in her seat. Opening a few drawers, and spinning around in the chair playfully. He whistled an anonymous tune, and was surprisingly cheery considering his present situation. He's been lucky to knock the hangover early on._

_He'd wait…He'd wait for her._

_Rory had to leave Sam in the copy-room to begin duties of her own. Mr. Huntzberger, had designated her a few minor responsibilities at the paper; the other employee's welcomed the help and accepted her immediately. _

_Although a small crick in her neck remained; no doubtedly caused from her sleeping arrangements the night before. She couldn't be more thrilled to have a role in grand-scheme of things._

_Looking up from her current trot down the hall, she could see, at a distance someone sitting in her designated area. She squinted in a valiant effort to recognize the perpetrator. Growing closer, a blonde socialite came into focus, immediately slowing her pace in approaching him._

_He'd notice her during one of his spinning escapades in her office chair. He stopped mid-turn, his eyes fixated on her. Rory felt immediately and completely awkward which had never really happened to her around him. She felt herself tense up, v-lining her way over slowly, but surely. Logan stood up from his current position in the office chair, when she reached him._

_Neither one said anything. Rory instead decided to walk around him, lacing papers in separate piles, in separate folders. Logan stood a few feet behind her, and watched patiently over her shoulder. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, each time expecting something to come out, but nothing ever did._

"_Okay, so it was a bad idea." He finally managed._

"_What was?" she asked, turning around to face him._

"_Ace…"_

"_Oh yeah," she responded, as if she hadn't known. "that". The truth was she really wasn't that upset with Logan, she was a big believer in the whole 'Everything happens for a reason – Good karma/Bad karma' scheme. "It's quite all right…Kidd-o" she shot at him._

"_I just wanted to be a part of that again," he began. "Ever since we were headlined "Girlfriend, Boyfriend' I've had to change my whole lifestyle for it." He regretted the fact this sounded completely opposite, to anything he really meant to say. Quickly he tried to redeem himself, once he saw a look of pain and fear erase the familiar shine of blue in her eyes. "Not that I'm saying it was bad. No No! It was for the better. And I can't thank you enough for that. I just really want us to last. For that to happen I guess… I'll have to quit the whole out-of-town partying" he told her, in all sincerity. "And I won't call you Kidd-o anymore…I picked up on the sarcasm" he added._

_Her eyes returned to their normal shade of sky-blue. As his arm snaked its way around her waist, she could feel herself relax entirely as her doubts of moments before, faded indefinitely. _

"_So…Are you ready to go?"_

"_Can't. I'm working" she said pulling away, and turning towards her desk, as a playful grin settled on her face._

"_Come on! I know the boss…I'll pull a few strings! He's got plenty of mindless zombies working for him. He doesn't need you too!" He smiled to himself. "All right! So… 4? 5?" he asked._

"_6"_

"_Ace" he groaned._

"_7:30…The latest" she told him._

"_Fine!" he pouted. "I'll be…around…" he told her, trudging off down the hall to find the breakroom._

_Rory scurried off in another direction, pleased with the outcome of their conversation._

_Logan found no interest in the breakroom…and frankly it reminded him a little too much of his own kitchenette. Plus or minus, a few strangers preparing coffee. A frown marked upon his face, as he glanced down at his watch; a pricey one at that. Rory had given it to him on his last birthday. Going against his requests of, 'No gifts'. It was only 4, he'd have at least another 2 hours to explore his fathers empire. And somehow he wished he could do this, without somehow running into Huntzberger Sr. himself._

_But looking up he instantly caught a glimpse of his father. In a desperate attempt to hide his presence, Logan jumped through the nearest door to his left. Closing it, almost completely. Logan peered out through the crack that remained. Watching with narrowed-eyes as his father passed. Although, a sense of relief surged through his body, due to the fact his father hadn't seen him._

_A shuffling of papers and the hum of a machine distracted Logan. He turned around to find the source. Or better yet, identify the room he'd just burst into._

_She'd heard his entrance over the copy machine. Her head turned and her eyes traced the doorway, landing persistently on his back. Hiding in the copy room has become quite the trend these days. Sam could easily tell who it was even though their last encounter had become blurry in her mind. Her heart began to beat rapidly, as her mouth went dry. 'Say something' her thoughts encouraged her, 'Say ANYTHING'. Her eyes frozen on him, she was unable to think of anything to say, and diverted her vision back to her task. She didn't really have a specific job, other than picking up the loose ends, others couldn't carry out…_

'_It's been too long' she told herself. 'He wouldn't remember… It's been way too long'. She let memories cloud her mind, as she zoned out, staring at the loose papers filing themselves out of the mechanism._

_The time his dad had flown them out to Mexico with the Nanny; whose sister has become ill. Together they'd participated in 'The Day of the Dead' celebration. It was there, Logan had acquired the nickname 'Poncho'. She couldn't remember why, at this point in time. But she'd been the only one to call him that, forever after. It was a bond, they'd always shared. Well…used to._

_When Sam's dad had passed away, she was 7. Never knowing her mother, whom had died during her birth. She'd been merely an orphan. Since her dad, never left a will, her stepmother got everything. The house, her dads independently owned diner, and to her dismay…Sam. Knowing this, her stepmother as evil as she'd turned out to be, shipped Sam off to stay with her Godmother._

_Leaving everything behind she's ever known. Things she's come to love… The arrangement had only ended up lasting a summer. Sam ended up missing the Huntzberger residence, along with one Huntzberger in particular when she left…_

_Poncho._

_She hadn't changed. Her uncanny ability to light up the must dull of rooms remained. Logan's eyes moved up and down her figure, her hair, and the side of her face. Her bangs falling gracefully onto her face, her golden colored hair, accented her fair skin. The boy inside of him returned; the feeling of that summer. The summer he'd come to forget. Excitement tingled inside of him. For a moment, everything after the summer disappeared, and now he was just a boy….standing in front of a girl, asking her to love him, as he did her._

"_Hi, I'm Logan Huntzberger" he said, stepping forwards offering her his hand, in a desperate attempt at helping her remember him._

_She turned her head, the sparkle in her brown eyes so intense, it almost startled him. Yet so familiar, it was._

"_But… you can call me 'King'" he joked, flashing his trademark smile. He watched as the corners of her pink lips curved upwards._

"_Hi, I'm Sam Montgomery" she said, taking his hand. "But you can call me 'God'" she told him firmly, releasing his hand from her grasp._

_Logan's eyebrows raised as he chuckled a bit. She still managed to amaze him. "I always knew God was a woman!" he exclaimed. "And I know her…. I am SO asking for favors."_

_Sam giggled, directing her gaze to the ground, sheepishly. The sound of her laughter was contagious and brought a smile to the young socialite. He was desperate, "You know… You girls have everything! You're better looking, you can give birth, you talk better, you can run business', you're smarter than us! Hell, you're even killing your own bugs now! All us guys have is lifting heavy objects…and sports."_

"_Hey! We have sports!" Sam shout out._

_Logan rolled his eyes. "Sure… you can have your 'synchronized swimming' and that thing, in the Olympics where you dance around with a ribbon on a stick."_

_She tilted her head inquisitively. He couldn't help but think how beautiful she really was, even on the verge of anger or confusion._

"_Which…BY THE WAY, is not a sport" he continued._

"_Oh, yes it sure is!" she demanded._

"_Hey….Call Vegas…Put a bet on it." He encouraged._

_Sam stepped forward her eyes narrowing in on him. "You'd better stop there, Poncho." She warned. "Or…I'll tell everyone you played with a doll until you were 7."_

_When Logan's eyes widened in fear, Sam couldn't help but laugh. "FEMALE ACTION FIGURE! IT WAS A FEMALE ACTION FIGURE!"_

_Sam smirked, turning her back to the copy machine, to collect her papers. "Oh yeah? With a dream house?" she asked threateningly._

_Logan smiled. He'd forgotten how much he'd missed her. How much he'd missed her untouched ability to out-wit him. How she called him 'Poncho' like it was the most natural thing in the world. "What did you just call me?" He asked._

_Sam had to use all her concentration just not to blush. "Poncho" she repeated, straightening her head up, to see him properly._

_The sound of this one word flowing from her lips had the ability to make his heart flutter. "It's been a while since someone's called me that…"_

"_Yeah well…I always was the only one. And only YOU would think it was cool to wear one" she laughed._

"_It's culture!" he argued, a gentle smile resting on his lips._

"_It's tacky!"_

"_Rookie" he almost whispered, his arms out-stretched to her._

"_Poncho" she said, advancing into his arms._

_Their embrace was like a welcome home to both of them. Time froze….until, to Logans dismay she stepped back, and his arms were forced to break free of her, reluctantly._

_Surprised , when he felt a blow to his right arm. She'd just punched him, with incredible force. "Ow!" he winced._

"_You never wrote!"_

"_Have you been working out?" he asked, holding his now, injured arm. She punched the other. "Ow!" he repeated. "What was that for?"_

"_Same thing," she explained casually._

"_But you already hit me, for that."_

"_It was a five whack offense!" she told him. He looked at her now holding the opposite arm. "You never called or wrote. If I hadn't known any better I'd've thought you dropped right off the face of the earth."_

_Logan really had no excuse, and he wasn't about to make one up to feed her. Knowing it was no use, his lies had always been transparent to her, He stared at her, his face blanked with panic. She sighed and returned back to her work, his presence still undeniably distracting to her._

"_You think maybe you'd like to ditch this place for a while? For old times sake? I mean… I don't know why of for how long you're here. But I'd like to catch up. Maybe redeem myself?"_

"_Why would a nice guy like you want to ditch this all for a girl like me?" she asked. "Why would this time be any different from the last? When you let me go, with a thought." She didn't expect a response, and honestly couldn't tell where all this was coming from… Other than the face she was still upset with having to lose her parents and her best friend under the age of ten._

"_Listen…" he began. "I'm calling in a favor with God. You know… Once upon a time, me and her, were inseparable."_

_When 7:30 rolled around, the young Gilmore decided to begin her own search for Logan. When she didn't find him, hanging around her desk, at the time she'd told him. She truly wasn't worried, she figured he'd probably unsuspectingly decided to take a nap in a storage room. But this was a whole lot of building, with a whole lot of doors that Rory wasn't so sure she should be opening. Especially in search of something so obscene, as her possibly sleeping socialite of a boyfriend._

_'Maybe he went back to Yale' she thought to herself. She busied herself with a few more things. It was 8 o'clock the next time she glanced at down at the watched neatly placed on her small wrist. Her eyebrows raised in surprise, as she looked both ways down the hall… Logan was no where to be seen._

_So now he'd heard it all… And he found it hard to believe that he could miss so much in the time he hadn't called, wrote or e-mailed. He regret not being there. Not being someone she could count on, not being her shoulder to cry on. The arms to hold her up, someone to lean on. He felt like he'd missed so much, as they strolled up and down the avenue, calmly nibbling on ice cream they'd bought at Baskin Robins halfway through their journey. He voice; smooth as honey pronounced every detail with clarity, that Logan's ears received._

_Not even when they'd entered Baskin Robins did her tale falter. He'd ordered for them both, what he knew was her favorite… Pistachio ice cream. Personally he'd never had a taste for anything Pistachio, but around her it could be that much better. _

_When Sam had finished her sob-story, with a fairy tale ending and beginning rather. She took a moment to reflect, she knew well enough, that if someone were to get her going she'd never stop until every ounce of information has been lifted off her. So far the only person that had succeeded in getting her on that track had been Logan._

_Her cheeks turned pink when she realized she'd been the only talking the entire time. Taking a deep breath, her eyes peered over at him. Logan was casually eating his ice cream, and she imitated him. They continued their walk down the avenue, as the sun set ahead of them. _

_Say goodnight and go…._

_Logan's eyes were drawn to her almost magnetically, as the last rays of sunlight bounced off her blonde hair, and flawless skin. Leaving her looking like an angel, a glow surrounding her. "You haven't changed." He finally told her, his tone soft._

_She stopped and turned, facing him. Her ice cream, still pressed against her lips. Pulling it away, she was left with a Pistachio ice cream line on her upper lip. "What do you mean?" she asked, tilting her head. _

_Logan laughed at her lightly._

_You get me every time._

_Why'd you have to be so cute?_

_It's impossible to ignore you._

_Must you make me laugh so much?_

_It's bad enough, we get along so well._

_Just say goodnight and go…._

_Mechanically Sam drew her hand up to her face "What?" She'd now managed to be rid of the mustache, but a smile still crept upon Logan's face as he looked down at her. _

_No mistakes,_

_Miss your train._

_And come stay with me…_

_It's always 'say goodnight and go'_

_Talk about things…_

_Any excuse, just to stay awake with you._

_A smudge still remained on her lip. "You've got a little…" he began. Motioning to where it was on his own face. Her eyebrows furrowed in utter confusion. "Here. I'll get it." He finally told her, his grin continuously widening. He stepped forward, wiping above her lip, with his thumb. " There" he said, his palm still resting on her cheek. Her skin warmed his, as his eyes locked in place with hers. _

_Sam felt a blush creep up onto her cheeks when she realized what he was doing. He stepped closer, as he was drawn into her._

_You get me everytime._

_Why'd you have to be so cute?_

_It's impossible to ignore you._

_Must you make me laugh so much?_

_It's bad enough, we get along so well._

_Just say goodnight and go…._

"_You haven't changed…" he repeated. "And neither have my feelings." He whispered into her ear. Sending a shiver down her spine, as his warm breath barricaded her ear. Her brown eyes widened, she felt as though her voice had just been ripped out of her chest, when she opened her mouth… nothing came out._

_Logan's other had, that held his ice cream had made its way around Sam's waist and hugged her closer. Leaning down, he had it in his mind…. That kissing Sam, would be finally getting what he'd loved so many years ago, and still did._

_Sam's panic had frozen her in place. This decision could either, end or begin it all…_

_Just say goodnight and go…._

**_VOTE! Does Logan kiss Sam? Or does Sam save her relationship, and tell Logan that his childhood crush, has moved on. Tell us what you think… Or you may regret how it ends up. We're not going to start writing until you tell us. And a quick thanks to all of you that reviewed the previous chapter!_**

_**At the end of your review place a (Vote:) followed by yes or no. Or contact us.**_


	6. Childs Play

**Fate Can't Deny: **Childs Play

"I've never been inside a house like this," Tristan said, standing on the porch of the Gilmore house. It was two stories high, with blue painted window boxes that were completely void of any plant life. The door looked like it was lacking a lock or any security at all.

Rory shrugged, as she jiggled her key into the front door with succession. "It's just like any house here," she said. "Except it's got really poor maintenance... But you learn to get around these things."

"Yeah," Tristin said. "I guess." He didn't want tot let on how truly awestruck he was. He'd never been into such a smile house. Anything his parents would likely let him see would have to have been something amazing, great of value, or equipped with some ingenious device.

Rory let him inside. The hallway floor was made of a dark cherry wood. A giant wicker reindeer stood in one corner. Someone had put a baseball cap on its head, and equipped it with some sunglasses. Down the hall they were met with a medium-sized living room. There were pieces of movie memorabilia everywhere. Tristin even thought he recognized some of the movies. Casablanca. Pippi Longstocking. The Wizard of Oz.

"My mom and I are into movies," Rory told him when she noticed Tristin staring. The she noticed something else. A wrapped package sat on the coffee table, and the card had her name on it...Technically. Rory went over and carefully opened the envelope. LUKE DANES was printed on the face of the card in classic Verdana letterhead. Inside it read: For Lorelai. Love always. Luke.

"What's that?" Tristin asked. "Is it your birthday or something?" he continued, although he was sure it wasn't. He was sure he'd have remembered something like that. And he was sure that if it had been, he wouldn't be the one here, with her.

"Nope." Rory said. She gently placed the card back in its envelope, picked up the box and placed it on the stairs leading up to her mom's room. She was curious about what was inside, but she knew she'd feel guilty if she opened more then she already had. She had no idea that Luke could be as romantic to be sending her mother secret packages, and love notes. He still managed to surprise her sometimes.

"So what do you want to eat?" she asked Tristin, assuming he was hungry and leading him down the hall, into the kitchen." Luke usually leaves Danishes and doughnuts whenever he comes over. I be there are still some left." Rory was presuming that he'd been there of course. But only because the usual scattered look the house portrayed was very organized. And everyone knows Lorelai Gilmore isn't one for cleaning.

Rory located a cookie tin on top of the marble kitchen counter and opened it. She pulled out a doughnut and took a bite. "My mom's not exactly the best cook," she informed him. "The idea of my mother making toast is a complete joke."

"Hey! At least your mother tries," he argued. "I bet my mother had never stepped into a kitchen in her life. She was a French Princess who lived on restaurant food or catered meals at dinner parties."

Rory nodded, her eyes glued to him as he made his way over to where she was standing. She'd early on told herself to be prepared for anything while he was with her. But she still couldn't for the life of her figure out why she'd invited him. It was as if her thoughts spilled out to him, the moment they crossed her mind, which was potentially dangerous. He pulled a danish from the tin, and inhaled it with 3 bites. Rory's eyes took on a bigger sized as she watched.

"So. Why are we here again?" he posed.

"Well..." Rory began, placing her maple dipped doughnut on the counter. "I am here to see Sookie's baby...Her new one, it's a girl. I'm so happy. We needed a girl."

Tristin frowned in confusion. "Why do we need a girl?" he questioned her.

Rory's mind raked for a semi-plausible answer. "I don't...know, we just do." she said slowly giving any needed time for a good answer to pop in her head. "You..." she quickly continued, diverting the attention from her last response. "Are here, because I invited you. But that still doesn't explain it. Considering I was only inviting you out of the kindness, and politeness of my heart. I did expect you to accept. So you know, it's kind of awkward and all," she joked.

Tristin smirked boyishly. "Fine then," he proceeded to play the brat-boy act. "I'll leave!" he pouted. This seemed to be a reoccurring thing with the ladies lately. Of course they were always kidding, who wouldn't want a guy like Tristin Dugrey around?

He proceeded to march out of the kitchen and down the hall, Rory was at his heels. "Let's go!" he called once more, his pace quickening.

A vibrating halted Rory's progression down the hall, she could here the continuous footsteps of Tristin who'd carried on, and had yet to notice her lack of presence behind him. The movement in her back pocket continued, as she pulled out her cell phone and flipped it open, pressing it to her ear.

"Hello?"

"Daughter dearest!"

"Hey mom," Rory smiled.

"I see you survived the party. How was it? Are you still eating well...? And by well, I mean... Are you all right enough to be consuming an unhealthy intake of junk food? Twinkies. Pop. Chocolate bars. Chips."

"While some have called the most meaningful experience in their life, to me it was something more akin to doing the splits on a crate of dynamite."

"See now, I would laugh, but I'm not sure if what you said is actually funny?"

"Anything said quickly can seem wittier than it is."

"You're learning a lot at Yale."

"Actually... I learnt that from you"

"Ha! I knew it. I'm so much better then that big school of yours. At least I'm not full of silly college students and smelly teachers. You could learn so much from me, your mother. The one that gave you life! The one you depended on for food, and clothing, and cleanliness the first years of your petite life! I could give you so much more! And I-"

"Mom." Rory interrupted.

"What?"

"You're babbling again."

"It's like a disease." Lorelai whimpered.

"You should get it looked at."

"I should." she agreed. "Where are you?"

"Home."

"Home?"

"Home."

"Home?"

"We're not starting this again!"

Lorelai giggled, "Aw, at least you can't say I didn't try!"

"I wouldn't dare!"

A loud crash startled both girls. It was on Rory's end. When she shifted her gaze up, she saw the front door, still open. Outside she managed to capture a view of Tristin laying face-first on the lawn.

"What was that?" Lorelai asked, worried.

"We should really get the porch fixed," Rory told her, before bursting out into hysterical laughter.

"Are you okay? Did you fall?"

Rory managed to let out an "I'm fine," in between her outbursts.

"Okay, now, answer the latter," Lorelai told her, impatiently.

Rory walked down the hall, and perched herself in the doorframe. Tristin rolled himself onto his back; his eyes squeezed shut and moaning in pain. Rory was sure he didn't know she was there. She lowered the phone from her ear, pressing her hand over the receiver, and resting it lightly on her shoulder. "Good job college-boy," she called out to Tristin who was now in the process of spitting out grass. He groaned, chuckling a bit. "Did they teach you that at Princeton too?" she asked, once again bursting out into laughter.

Although the sun was setting they were still provided with enough light to continue on with normal exercises, such as…walking down the stairs. Or so one would think.

"Quiet, you," he advised her, weakly pushing himself up into a sitting position.

Lorelai listened intently to the voices on the end. She huddled herself in Sookie's bathroom, so not to be interrupted. This was wishful thinking in a house of not one, but now two infants.

"Lorelai. Out of the bathroom!" Jackson yelled, slamming on the door.

"Shhh, Jackson. I'm busy."

He only banged louder with her response, causing her to jump up from her seat on the counter. She shot an evil glare…at the door. But she told herself it was for Jackson, and the door would be as kind as to pass it along to him.

"You'll wake the babies!" Sookie's voice cut in to warn her insane husband. "I just got them both asleep. BOTH. At one time… Do you know how rare?" The couple erupted into their usual bickering. Lorelai, as always, attempted to tune them out, or simply keep it as a subtle background hum.

"Everything's fine," Rory finally told her. "Tristin jus-" she regretted it the moment the name passed through her lips. Her mom wasn't supposed to know; this could do nothing but induce another infamous lecture about relationships. But she continued, there was no use of hiding anything from her mother. "…just fell off the front steps."

"Huh..." Lorelai knew this had to be bad, if Tristin; Golden Boy; A vision of Christopher in his early stages was there. "So what're you doing in Stars Hollow, again?"

"Oh, well. I'm coming to visit the new baby. I had an opening in my schedule, and thought I'd jet on out. Tristin was just going to….tag along."

"And what about-" she cut off, due to the increase of yelling outside the bathroom. Pulling the phone away from her ear, she swung open the bathroom door. "Hey!" You two! I'm on the phone. Therefore, I'm not going to be here to referee, but if you'd like to continue this in proper etiquette … Get the butter, and the saran wrap…and get busy!" she yelled out to them. "Is this funny, or just face" she pondered to herself.

Jackson gave her a confused look, but Sookie who was used to her ruptures of useless babbling stood silent. "I don't even want to know why we'd need butter…or saran wrap," Jackson muttered.

Lorelai proceeded to shut the door again. " And do it outside, so there won't be such a mess to clean up. The body bag is in my trunk, for whoever wins and has to dispose of the evidence," She added.

She returned to the phone conversation, "What about…. Boyfriend?" she asked.

"What was that?" Rory responded.

"Kid, you don't answer questions with more questions."

"Logan? Well… I lost track of him at the Gazette."

"But he's still the boyfriend, is he not?"

"He is," Rory assured her. "So. I'm coming over to Sookie's…Can you be okay with me bringing Tristin?"

"How did you know where I was?" Lorelai asked in a sudden panicked disposition.

"Butter, and saran wrap."

"Ah, well. I can be cool…" She told her. " I promise. I'll be so cool.. You'll mistake me for Shaft!"

"As long as you're okay," Rory smirked.

"Mmkay, Bye," Lorelai gushed.

"See ya, Shaft."

"It's been a while since I've been here," Tristin said as they strolled through the town on the way to Sookie's house. The sun was setting slowly off in the distant but the night was beautiful and so they'd decided to walk to Sookies.

"Right before the play," Rory responded, looking at him out of the corner of her eye, surprised at how comfortable she felt with him.

Tristin smiled at the memory and it sparked a question he couldn't stop from passing by his lips. "So whatever happened to Bag Boy? When I left you two were on you're way to marriage and a happily ever after," he stated, feeling an odd bitterness when he thought about those times.

Rory took a moment to respond. "We broke up a little after you left," she said. "He's actually married now."

Tristin seemed surprised to here that as they neared Sookies house. "My condolences," he said.

Rory shook her head. "its fine, I'm okay with it," she told him, smiling at the fact that she really was okay with it.

Tristin let that familiar smirk spread itself onto his face. "I wasn't talking about you," he said smoothly making Rory laugh. He held out his hand for her as they turned onto the driveway.

"What I am going to do with you?" she asked sarcastically and placed her hand in his.

"Well I'm up for anything with you Mary!" he breathed. "They say it's the quiet one you gotta watch out for."

Rory blushed at his comment but held his gaze, not backing down. "Really? That's exactly what Paris said."

"Paris?" he asked, almost stopping.

Rory laughed. "She's my roommate and one of my best friends too," she said. "Surprised?"

Tristin let the shock wear off and dived back into their banter. "Pleased. I might even be up for a threesome!" he exclaimed, winking suggestively.

"Idiot!" Rory stated pausing at the door.

"Oh come on Mary, you know you want to."

Rory turned to look at him, her free hand poised at her hip. "You know usually being called an idiot takes people out of the mood," she said smartly.

"It actually kind of turns me on," he told her.

Rory just looked at him for a second. "I fear you," she finally said walking into the house.

The two of them walked into the house, flinging themselves against the wall and out of the way when Jackson came storming by.

"Jackson! You better start being quieter or you'll be up in the middle of the night breastfeeding!" Sookie yelled, following Jackson.

Jackson threw his hands in the air and turned around. "I don't have breasts!"

"Well grow some!" Sookie retorted.

Rory and Tristin were now standing, watching the fight unfold. Rory was highly amused, but Tristin on the other hand was half amused and half frightened. They only looked away when they heard someone walking towards them.

"Hey Kiddo," Lorelai greeted Rory and then turned to look at Sookie and Jackson. "Sorry about this but it's been going on non-stop for…well a long time," she said, bringing her hand up to her forehead.

"Not like I'm not used to it," Rory replied and then turned to Tristin. "Mom, this is Tristin," she introduced.

"Ah! E.T nice to meet you," she answered.

Tristin sifted his hand through his blonde hair in a confused manner. "E.T?" he questioned.

"Evil Tristin," Rory said simply.

"Right. Nice to meet you Mrs. Gilmore," he greeted politely.

Lorelai backed away a few steps, an affronted look on her face. "Mrs. Gilmore's my mother," she said, like it was the worst insult she'd ever received. "I'm Lorelai."

"Lorelai, of course," he said laying on his natural charm. "How could I have mistaken, you look nothing like your mother."

Lorelai looked at suspiciously before pointing a finger at him. "You're trouble, I can smell. It's like a sixth sense."

Tristin smirked. "Actually that's one of the five," he told her smartly, making Rory laugh.

Lorelai glared at her daughter before turning around and walking into the living where Sookie and Jackson have moved, muttering under her breath: "Stupid smart college kids!"

As they walked into the room they caught the tail end of the argument.

"Sookie I'm telling you, it's impossible for a man to grow breasts!" Jackson said.

"Well then what the hell are man boobs?" she asked.

"Uhh…" Jackson mumbled, at a loss for words.

Tristin couldn't stop himself from cutting into the argument. He stepped forward and held out his hand. "Actually it wouldn't matter if he had man boobs or not because men don't produce milk," he told them suddenly becoming the centre of attention. "Man boobs are just for overweight men."

"Thank you!" Jackson said but then turned around to face Tristin. "Who are you?" he asked.

"Actually that's not true," Lorelai said, cutting off Tristin's reply. She turned to face Rory, a thoughtful expression on her face. "You remember Marilyn Manson had boobs."

"Yeah, but weren't they implanted?" Rory asked.

Sookie's eyes lit up and she turned to Jackson. "We're getting you those," she declared.

Jackson's mouth dropped open, frozen, until he heard Tristin laugh from behind him and he broke out of his trance. "Well let's hope I don't get the big nurse again," he said dryly.

"Yeah well you never know with Marilyn Manson thought, he's a freak!" Rory added.

Lorelai nodded and then whipped her head back to look at Rory. "Wait!" she exclaimed, gathering everyone's attention. "Are you wearing my sweater?" she asked pointedly.

Rory looked down, her eyes suddenly landed on a powder blue sweater that was indeed her mom's. "Yeah?" she responded, weary with confusion. She didn't see the big deal she'd worn this sweater before, along with many others that belonged to her mom.

"I thought I told you to ask me, before you took my stuff," Lorelai informed not only her daughter but the entire room.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Rory shrugged it off, her tone gentle.

"It's okay," Lorelai finalized, leaving the room brief silence. "I just didn't think it was a big deal. Just a simple, 'Hey mom can I wear this.'" Apparently she wasn't finished, her eyes glued to the young Gilmore.

"It's not," Rory confirmed.

Lorelai nodded once again going silent before starting up, a tension lingering in the air between them. "It's my favourite sweater though," she murmured.

"Since when?" Rory asked incredulously.

Lorelai nodded her eyes, searching the room, as if to convince them as well as herself and her daughter. "Since always," she spat.

"This is not your favourite sweater." Rory counteracted her mother.

"I just don't want you to borrow certain things…because you'll end up stretching them out, like everything else you borrow."

Rory looked slighted and she opened her mouth a few time before settling on something to say to that. "That's insane, I don't stretch out your stuff, it's impossible, your boobs are way bigger then mine!" she exclaimed, forgetting they weren't alone in the room.

"That is not true," Lorelai responded.

"Yes it is!"

"Your boobs are totally bigger then mine!" she yelled throwing her hands in the air.

"You're crazy!" Rory said, looking at her mother like she had three heads.

"Do you want to measure?"

Rory's blue eyes went as wide as saucers and her face screwed up. "I'm not going to measure my boobs!" she cried.

Tristin who was watching with mixed emotions couldn't help but weigh in. "Would it be rude of me to offer my services for that act?" he asked, but his question went ignored by everyone else in the room.

Lorelai turned to the side. "Yeah that's because you know you're totally bigger," she scoffed.

Rory was about to answer her when she heard the baby crying upstairs. "I gonna go check up on the baby," she said.

"Fine, don't measure," Lorelai pouted, turning to look at Rory as she walked to the stairs. "We'll just compare bra's!" she yelled.

"You're cracked!" Rory told her before disappearing around the corner upstairs.

"You're…bigger!" Lorelai yelled, bringing her hand up to cover her face, when she met the confused and worried looks of everyone else in the room.

Tristin had quickly snuck away from the chaotic happenings going on in the ground level of the house. He'd mounted the stairs and turned down a random hallway but changed directions when he heard the unfamiliar gurgle of a baby. He followed the sound straight a half open door, from where he could see Rory sitting on a bed holding a small bundle wrapped in yellow. He moved closer, leaning against the door frame and just watched her with the baby. She was beautiful, he'd always known that but right now with a baby in her arms…it shocked him how domestic this picture really was. Rory with the baby and him watching her.

Tristin quickly shook his head, getting rid of those thoughts. He wasn't going to let himself fall back into the rip tide of emotions that had made up his years at Chilton with Rory. He had Sam now and that was all that he needed.

And so with that thought permanently in place he rapped his knuckles against the door, grabbing Rory's attention. Smiling he walked into the room and sat down next to her, reaching over and pulling the fleece blanket away from the baby's face. He'd never really been around a baby before and so he just kind of looked over her. She was so small, everything about her was tiny.

"How old is she?" he asked, looking up at Rory, who seemed captivated by the baby too. Maybe it was just something about a being so pure and innocent.

Rory slowly looked over at Tristin and she thought about it for a moment. "She's almost a month," Rory responded. "Do wanna hold her?" she asked, moving the sleeping baby closer to him.

Tristin vehemently shook his head, bringing his hands into the action. "No, I can't," he said, a note of finality in his voice but also something else.

Rory had never been able to really read people, especially Tristin. But right now it was like every one of his feelings was swimming around openly in his cobalt blue eyes. She could see the fear in them easily and she softened at that. "It's not that hard," she told him. "You just gotta support her head and hold her tightly," she explained, gesturing down at how she holding the baby. "But not too tightly."

Tristin didn't really have the choice as Rory handed him the little girl. He tried to imitate how he'd seen Rory been holding the baby. It hit him like a ton of bricks how much he liked the feeling of having a baby, although he knew if it was his baby that feeling wouldn't be so happy and fluffy. He'd never thought about kids, never even thought about being in love before. 'It's funny how one person can change so much in your life,' Tristin thought, looking over at Rory.

"What's her name?" he asked, going back over their conversation so far and realizing the name had never been said.

Rory laughed and scooped her legs up onto the bed. "Well I know her first name's Martha," she said, reaching out, tracing the little girls face contours with the tip of her finger. "The middle name or names…I think one is Rupert."

"Rupert?" Tristin repeated, very much confused. "And here I thought that was a guy's name."

Once again Rory laughed and she smiled at how crazy the people in this town really are. She just shrugged though, not going into detail about how her middles names came to be. "I think you're safer not knowing, trust me."

"Okay," Tristin said, rolling his eyes good naturally. "So I'm guessing you were there when she was born right?" he asked.

Rory's face twisted and she shook her head. "Me?" she asked, pointing at herself and laughing dryly when Tristin nodded. "I really don't do birth," she told him.

Tristin was surprised to hear that. Rory looked like someone who would film it and call it the beautiful miracle of life. He took a moment to think, looking down at Martha still curled up, asleep in his arms. "You don't want one?" he asked softly.

Rory looked at him gently and she smiled. "Of course I want one," she replied. "I've always wanted one."

Tristin couldn't stop the smirk from spreading itself across his face. He flashed it at her and his eyes twinkled mischievously. "Well I don't know what's stopping you right now," he started. "I mean you have the bed and the privacy."

Rory blushed at his suggestive words and felt them slipping back into their familiar banter. "You're right, I do have both of those," she said, laughing inwardly at his obvious surprise at her words. "To bad I'm missing the guy," she finished.

Tristin quickly got over his shock and leaned closer to her, careful of the baby in his arms. "No your not Mary," he breathed. "I'm right here."

Rory's pink cheeks easily turned crimson and she pulled away from him, just in time to see his victory smirk. "Well fortunately for me," she said, getting off the bed and smoothing out her clothes. "You're not the boyfriend," she concluded, a teasing note in her voice but also a lot of the truth.

Tristin fell a tiny sting at her words but pushed it away. "I think the word you were searching for is unfortunately Mary," he enlightened her.

Rory looked at him barely nodding her head before she gave up, shrugging her shoulders. "Fine you win Tristin," she said, reaching in to take the baby from his arms to lay he down in the bassinet. "I'll let you live in your little imaginary world."

Tristin laughed and stretched his arms out in front of him. "Oh no, my minds clear," he told her waiting until she turned back around before smiling innocently. "Crystal."

"How nice," Rory said, not even trying to fight the smile lengthening her lips.

The two of them stood there for a minute or two in companionable silence, before Tristin remembered the reason he'd actually come looking for Rory. He motioned at her shirt with his finger making her look down expecting to see something on it. "What was with you're mom?" he asked.

Rory frowned at that, she'd forgotten about their little fight. She shrugged and turned back to the bed, sitting down. "I don't know," she told him, although she knew exactly what was wrong. Her mom was mad at her for bringing Tristin to Stars Hollow, when she was dating Logan. She'd been disappointed in her when she found out that Rory was casually dating and Rory guessed that she thought maybe she was slipping back into that.

Tristin knew that wasn't true but he also knew this was bugging her, a lot. He wanted to get the frown off her face and so he bent down in front of her. "So I was thinking," he stared, gathering her attention. "How about you show me where your coffee obsession came from?" he asked, smiling knowingly when a smile lit up Rory's face. When in doubt with a Gilmore always bring up coffee.

Rory wanted to hug him for changing the subject but she quickly curbed that impulse and settled on a wide smile. "Well the obsession came from my mom," she let him know. "But, I can bring you to Luke's. Worlds best coffee."

Tristin raised an eyebrow but stood up and held out his arm motioning for her to go before him. "Lead the way," he said.

Rory laughed and walked past him, checking once on the baby before she grabbed his hand and pulled him along with her.

On the way to Luke's Rory had shown Tristin everything about the town. She loved talking about Stars Hallow, Tristin could tell. Her stories were so animated and her eyes were wide with wonder and excitement. Tristin found himself quickly being drawn in by the small town's charm and he listened intently to her.

"Okay, this is Luke's," she announced holding out the door for him and following behind him.

Tristin looked around the quaint diner and he instantly liked it. He didn't know if it was because of how simple it was or how different, or maybe it was because it was this big part of Rory's life. Whatever it was Tristin loved it. "So what do we order?" he asked, sitting down at a table, suddenly conscious of all the stares he was getting.

"Coffee," she told him straightly. Rory then leaned forward and Tristin did the same. "Don't' worry about them," she whispered, meaning the townspeople who ere gawking at Tristin. "You're new and will be the number one gossip story for a week or two."

Tristin nodded his head, not really understanding. He smiled nervously at the people watching him and they turned around and stared talking to each other. "Wow," he stated. "So this really is a small town."

Rory laughed and was about to answer him when she saw Luke coming over. "Hey Luke!" she greeted happily, hoping Luke wouldn't be to rude to Tristin. "This is my friend Tristin," she introduced them, hearing the subtle din in the diner turn up a notch now that they had his name.

Luke looked from Rory to the blonde kid sitting across from her. To him he looked very much like the limo boy Rory was dating. He only nodded at Tristin. "What do you want?" he asked.

Rory smiled her thank you at Luke, knowing a nod was the best she was going to get out of him. "Coffee and curly fries," she told him.

Luke jotted that down and looked at Tristin. "And you?"

Tristin felt very uncomfortable under the intensity of this man's gaze and he pulled at the collar of his shirt. "I'll have the same," he answered and Luke walked away. "That's your mom's boyfriend?" he asked.

Rory laughed and plated her arms on the table. "Yeah," she said. "But he's only being like this because he's really protective of me," she explained, not that it comforted Tristin really.

The two shared simple conversation and quick wit until their food got there and Tristin agreed with Rory about Luke's coffee being the best. After they were done, they walked out of Luke's with Tristin leaving a generous tip on the table behind him. They walked up the street again, ignoring the townspeople.

Rory suddenly looked at Tristin and cocked her head to the side. "I'm sorry, did we just spend a day whole together?" she asked, stopping on the sidewalk.

Tristin laughed at her surprise and he nodded. "It's true Mary," he told her.

"And no one ended up murdered?" she asked, teasing.

Tristin stroked his chin, like he was deep in thought until he struck his hand in the air like a light bulb went off in his head. "You know I think we might have actually grown up," he said loudly and they started walking again.

Rory smiled to herself. "A whole day with E.T and I actually had fun," she said not really talking to anyone but Tristin laughed at it. "Well I guess miracles really do come true."


	7. Who Says You Can't Go Home

**Fate Can't Deny:** Who Says You Can't Go Home?

The soft breeze, warmed her face as she fled down the sidewalk. She struggled through multiple passer byers, in an attempt not collide with them, but didn't entirely succeed.

"Excuse me," she whispered under her breath, having bumped shoulders with a man whom was walking in the opposite direction to where she was heading. She didn't bother to look up, and he didn't seem to be too shaken up over it. It had almost slowed her down, but she wasn't in control anymore, as her emotions went haywire, her actions only followed.

"Sam!" A voice called out. It came from behind her, and easily beat over the constant hum of the crowds. "Samantha!"

Part of her wanted to follow his voice, but the other warned her; told her not to. Her pace quickened as she made her way back to the Gazette building; back to Tristin. Following the familiar route, with only partial vision.

A million thoughts and regrets filled her to the point, she couldn't bare anymore.

Once more, "Sam!"

She turned the corner, finding herself alone on the present path ahead. Every tear that fell down her cheek, dripped off, as some stained her shirt; others her heart. Everything seemed silent, as she stood beneath the fading skies. The sound of her feet hitting the pavement in a rhythmic manner was all the company she had. But it didn't seem to bother her as much as any real company might.

Effortlessly tears still managed to stray from her brown eyes, which trailed their way up and down the passing scenery; full trees, healthy green grass, black driveways and flowers filling flowerbeds everywhere. The summer had been heated and welcoming each and everyday, the warmth lasting to the bone. Rounding another corner, she came face with the Gazette building, and was glad to find the parking lot was almost empty. The large pillars and auburn toned brick, was almost comforting to her. The last thing she needed was to have to try and explain her current array of tears to anyone she may pass.

She used her shoulder to push open the glass doors leading into the seven story building. A burst of hot air followed her in, and mixed itself amongst the overly airconditioned climate. Her eyes; still glazed over with emotion were no use to her.

She gently used her index finger, to push the button; calling the elevator, which arrived immediately. With the back of her hand she was able to be rid of the first signs of tears. The blonde carelessly threw her back against the elevator wall, tilting her head back and squeezing her eyes shut. Only in hope of erasing anything that may have just happened. Choosing the appropriate floor, she rod upwards in the elevator trying to concentrate on the task at hand; retrieving her bookbag.

Almost mechanically, she brought her hands up to her watery eyes, wiping away the salty tears that were welling up inside them. She let one hand travel through her blonde hair as the other cradled her face. Her head was almost pounding from the millions of thoughts running through it. Her emotions running on such a high she thought her heart would constrict.

As Sam heard the elevator door opening she lowered her head even more. She was in no mood to try and hide her current emotions as they intensely ran through her. The elevator dinged as the doors opened wide and she heard the shuffle off feet as someone walked into the small space. At the same time that Sam felt the jolt of the elevator starting back on it's ascent towards the top floor she also felt the strong feeling of someone's eyes locked on her.

Without even bothering to look in the direction of her newly acquired audience, Sam lifted her head and pursed her lips together. "What are you looking at?" she burst out sharply.

"You mean me?" A strangely familiar voice answered. "Oh, I just wonder from room to room."

"Carter?" Sam exclaimed with mild disposition, turning towards him. And as she let her sparkling brown eyes settle on him the little control she had over her emotions snapped and she dissolved into a mess of sobs.

"Who-Wha... Okay, crying girl. Crying Sam... This... can't be good" Carter murmured to both occupants of the elevator.

Burying her face into Carters sharp yet comforting shoulder, Sam let it all go. The stress of class, the b-word and the childhood reunion that may've gotten too friendly. All gloves were off, as she tightly clenched her arms around the only person in the world she felt she could trust at this moment.

The elevator reached the top floor and Carter lead them both carefully out. The door closed cautiously behind them; he didn't dare lead them any further. Unsuspectedly her voice still shaking with tears, broke through what had become one long convulsive weep.

"Everything's so different... I miss home, I miss the diner, I miss my house.. I miss yo-" she exclaimed.

Carter interrupted the blonde in an attempt to reassure her. "I'm right here!"

She continued, "I can't do it anymore. I just can't Carter. I want to go... I don't know where. Just go." Her eyes still moist with tears stared up at him, with hope. Hope he'd make it better; if she couldn't... Carter could. She told herself.

Staring down at her, he saw the same girl he'd known back in California. The face he missed so much was now here in front of him... wet with tears. But not happy tears. Her brown eyes gleamed, silently but surely shouting 'Save me!'. He'd do anything to save her.

"So.. You're not even going to ask me what I'm doing here?" Carter asked sarcastically, at an attempt to lighten the mood. Plastering a goofy smile on his face, he was desperate to at least see her smile. No luck.

Sam's eyes had grown weak and tired from the tears. Once again she attempted to dry them. She didn't care how awful she looked, she was just so happy to see such a friendly and familiar face. Hear a voice. Feel a touch. At that moment something hit her, in the pit of her stomach... She knew what she missed in a whole, was California. Maybe it had been foolish to leave the only place she'd ever known so quickly to chase what seemed to be a hopeless dream, a hopeless life. There was confusion. But even amongst the chaos in her mind... there was California.

"California was my home." she whispered to the ground, in realization.

Carter placed his finger gently beneath her delicate chin, slowly pushing it up to meet his gaze. "Who says you can't go home?"

---

If there is a stage at which a single being becomes truly an adult, it must be when they grasp the irony that they must live in the middle of contradiction, because if all contradiction were eliminated at once life would collapse. There are simply no answers to some of the great pressing questions. But are your dreams really a life you want or a life you have?

---


End file.
